Paula Hammond - Features EditorTaron Egerton made his name with the action comedy film Kingsman: The Secret Service, followed with roles in Testament Of Youth, the crime thriller film Legend, and the biographical film Eddie the Eagle. Mark Strong has appeared in a clutch of popular films, including Revolver, RocknRolla, Sherlock Holmes, Stardust, and Kick-Ass. Kingsman: The Golden Circle see the duo return as the irrepressible Eggsy and Merlin…
How do your characters evolve in this film, particularly Eggsy?
Taron: What’s particularly fun about this film, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, is that we get to see that Eggsy has changed and evolved since the first film. It’s been a few months, probably a year, since the events in the first film where Merlin and Eggsy manage to save the world. And you get the impression that he is a little more assured. He has a few missions under his belt and he now has a girlfriend who he is trying to be good to. He tries to have an active relationship with her but his work commitments do get in the way.
And Merlin gets some great moments. He sings at one point…
Mark Strong: I do get to sing, but I wouldn’t describe myself as a singer unlike this man here [Taron].
Taron Egerton: I think Mark sings brilliantly in the film.
Mark Strong: Bless you.
Taron Egerton: I seem to be garnering a reputation as a singer! I do love singing — it’s very important to me — and Mark does a blinding job.
Mark Strong: What’s great about that John Denver [Country Road] track is that it can be intimate and small but you can belt it out as well. That’s what I do. I think I sell it well rather than hit the notes perfectly.
Did this film feel even bigger and bolder than the first film?
Taron Egerton: There were some incredible sets on the first movie but I remember the first day I stepped onto the set of Poppy Land [on The Golden Circle] and it was almost like a small town. I remember thinking, ‘Wow! We’ve stepped up a gear here.’ The Valentine, end-of-the-world sets from the first film were very grand in scale but only about a third of the size of the Poppy Land set. That was one point when I thought, ‘We’re into something a little bit bigger here.’
Mark Strong: The very first scene we shot [on The Golden Circle] was over the destroyed, charred remnants of the Kingsman shop. And for that one scene they created a whole avenue of charred debris with the buildings either side. There was rain, it was a night shoot, and it was a huge shot for that one scene. I don’t think anything else was shot there. And that was the first day — so you realised that you were in for something big!
KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE IS AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY AND DVD FROM 29TH JANUARY.
