Why Taron Egerton didn't watch any past 'Robin Hood' movies — and how he's (sort of) wearing tights in new take
There was no marathoning of old Robin Hood movies when Taron Egerton scored the title role in the latest spin as the rich-robbing vigilante. He didn’t look at what Errol Flynn did in the part, or Kevin Costner, or Russell Crowe, or Men in Tights spoofer Cary Elwes.
“I think with something that’s from legend or from folklore, it’s such a simple story at its heart that you have to flesh it out yourself,” Egerton (Kingsman, Sing) tells Yahoo Entertainment during a recent visit to our Los Angeles studios (watch above). “There’s nothing I can take from those other Robin Hoods, really, you can only be your own version of something.”
Egerton admits that “there’s always a danger when you play a character that’s very recognizable and well-known that you can be a bit earnest, dare I say. I think I wanted to create a Robin Hood that was sort of flawed and young.”
In director Otto Bathurst’s hyper-stylized reinvention of the famous legend, Robin of Loxley develops a Bruce Wayne/Batman-esque alter-ego after the noble is sent off to war, stripped of his wealth and recruited by the Moorish commander Little John (Jamie Foxx) to exact vengeance on the corrupt brass of Nottingham.
Where this Robin Hood may have something in common with some of his predecessors: the legwear.
“They’re quite tight,” Egerton says about the pants he wears in the film. “I have quite big calves, so regardless of how tight the trousers are designed to be, quite often I fill out the bottom half.
“And I skip leg day,” he laughs.
Robin Hood opens Wednesday.
Watch Taron Egerton explain why he’s not in the next Kingsman movie:
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