Taron Egerton Opens Up About Unscripted Tom Hardy ‘Snog’ While Making Film Together

Taron Egerton has revealed that he improvised a kiss with Tom Hardy while they were shooting the crime drama Legend.

During an interview on the latest episode of the podcast Armchair Expert, the Rocketman actor dropped some behind-the-scenes gossip about making the 2015 Kray Twins biopic.

In the movie, Tom played both Ronnie and Reggie Kray, while Taron portrayed one of their associates, Edward “Mad Teddy” Smith.

The kiss took place during the scene where Taron’s character waits in a car while Tom’s Ronnie murders someone.

“I was sat in the back of the car waiting for him and I grabbed his face and I snogged him and it wasn’t in the script,” Taron revealed.

Sadly, this kiss never made the final cut, Taron said he “was so pleased with myself” for trying something different with the improvised moment.

The Kingsman star then admitted that he nervously “backed off” after the kiss, in case Tom was unhappy with his choice, but Taron reckons his co-star actually “loved it”.

“At that time, I think he quite liked my chutzpah,” he added.

His character, Edward, was rumoured to be the occasional lover and companion of the openly gay gangster, Ronnie Kray.

Taron added: “We were depicting a bunch of guys in a hypermasculine world playing gangsters, but I was playing his lover, so my job was kind of to subvert it all.”

He explained on the pod that the film’s director, Brian Helgeland, was “very open” to the idea of the cast “improvising and trying things out” and Tom “loved” that aspect of making the film.

“I kind of grabbed that bull by both horns as well,” Taron shared.

Taron added: “I have all my insecurities and all my fears, but one thing I’m not worried about is I believe myself as an actor.”

He admitted that the Mobland actor was an “intimidating” co-star, but gushed that he had been “excited” to work with the “unpredictable” Hollywood “heavyweight.”

At the time, Taron praised the director for letting the actors improvise on set, calling Helgeland “an Oscar-winning writer [who] seems to delight in you not honouring what he’s written”.

“He welcomes improvisation, not even suggesting things before a scene,” Taron added.

“I think he quite likes it when you surprise him,” Taron said in a 2015 on-set interview. “There are endless opportunities to add little bits and bobs in. Providing you’re sensible with it, I think improvisation can really bring something to life.”