Two months ago we reported that Taron Egerton landed the lead role alongside Hugh Jackman in Dexter Fletcher’s upcoming film EDDIE THE EAGLE and now we have a first glimpse of the duo on set during filming.
Egerton, known largely for his role in KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE reportedly beat a lot of tough competition in securing the lead role as the infamous ski jumper Eddie “The Eagle” Edwards, in the form of Jamie Bell, George MacKay and Daniel Kaluuya. Despite the calibre of talented contenders, it was a deal-breaker having Egerton on board after a successful screen-test with Jackman.
It seems the duo are getting along well, as the man we know and love as Wolverine, took to Twitter to show them in their character gear during their first day of filming.
The biopic tells the story of Edwards, a skier who failed to make the Great Britain downhill skiing team for the 1984 Games, so rather than give up and throw down his helmet, he moved to New York to continue training. However, Edwards soon lacked the funding and ended up pursuing a career as a professional ski jumper, which had a far less competitive qualifying process because there were no other British ski jumpers.
It’s during this time that he meets Jackman who plays ski expert Chuck Berghorn, who helps the down-on-his-luck skier prepare for the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. Their union proved to be rather unsuccessful, as Edwards wound up placing last in the 70m and 90m events, but his failure actually turned him into a celebrity. The worse he performed, the more popular he became.
The biopic is being brought to the big screen by director Dexter Fletcher, and Egerton will be reunited with his KINGSMAN director, Matthew Vaughn who will produce the project.
We interviewed Taron Egerton on the red carpet during the UK premiere of TESTMAMENT OF YOUTH, where he discussed his future projects. You can watch the interview below:
