Black Bird 's Taron Egerton Details High-Stakes Role in the Apple TV+ Thriller

Taron Egerton is shedding his good boy persona in Apple TV+'s Black Bird.

In Black Bird, the British actor, who starred in Rocketman, plays real-life convict Jimmy Keene, who is sent to prison on a conspiracy to distribute cocaine charge. But then, the FBI offers him the opportunity to walk free—but only if he can get suspected serial killer Larry Hall to share where he buried his alleged victims. Jimmy takes the FBI up on their offer, sending him down a dark path that shakes him to his core.

"Larry gets in his head," Egerton says in an exclusive video. "And Jimmy is horrified by it."

Writer Dennis Lehane, who adapted the real-life Jimmy Keene's book In With The Devil, adds, "Jimmy was in something bigger than him, bigger than anything. And if he screws up, this guy will be out in the world again."

But as Greg Kinnear, who plays detective Brian Miller, explains, getting Larry to give up the whereabouts of the remains isn't going to be easy. "Larry Hall is a puzzle," Kinnear says. "It's impossible to understand his mentality."

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But Jimmy isn't just dealing with Larry. There are other threats within the prison walls that could ruin Jimmy's chances at freedom.

The series will also detail Jimmy's relationship with his father Big Jim Keene, played by the late Ray Liotta. In the featurette, Liotta describes Jimmy Jr. as a "good kid who did some bad things along the way."

Black Bird marks one of Liotta's final performances before he died on May 26. LeHane previously wrote in an open letter that he was "humbled, honored, fist-pump elated" when the Goodfellas actor accepted the role. "And the performance he gave? It was a master class," the writer shared. "Ray came to set to work. He expected those he worked with to be prepared, professional, and to take their work as seriously as he did. I loved that about him."

Black Bird premieres July 8 on Apple TV+.

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