Aaron Taylor-Johnson Puts Abs on Full Display, Says Oscars Snub Was a 'Relief'

By
Amanda Demme

Aaron Taylor-Johnson's Golden Globe-winning performance in Nocturnal Animals may have been snubbed by the Academy, but he's not complaining. In fact, the 26-year-old actor reveals in a new interview it was actually a "relief" that he -- and his eight-pack -- failed to garner an Oscar nomination.

"There was relief when my wife told me that I hadn't been nominated," he confesses to New York Magazine while showing off his washboard stomach, though his co-star, Michael Shannon, got a nod for his role in the Tom Ford thriller.


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"Quite honestly, and maybe this is because it's the first time I’ve been involved in this process and didn’t know anything, I didn’t have any [resentment towards Shannon's nomination]," Taylor-Johnson continues. "I didn’t feel like, 'Oh, my PR team and his PR team are rivals. Who can get the best press? Who can get the best gossip about what the critics are really thinking?' And Michael's been a gentleman. He's only ever congratulated me on my success."

Amanda Demme / New York Magazine


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The success Taylor-Johnson is referring to is his shocking Golden Globes win, beating out Best Supporting Actor favorite Mahershala Ali. And though Taylor-Johnson is just as grateful as he was surprised to win, the months of promotion for Nocturnal Animals, which then turned into months of awards shows, has left him "losing my mind."

"Coming home from the Globes with an award was brilliant, but I've been promoting Nocturnal for six months," he says. "As an actor, you prefer to put that kind of energy into something creative. It was good to finally step off the train. You do kind of go, 'I'm losing my mind.'"

"I'll never be Jennifer Lawrence or Tom Cruise," he admits, "someone who can hold a movie and then be charming and charismatic doing promotion. I haven't got what they've got. But at least I'm now comfortable just being myself."

Amanda Demme / New York Magazine

And being himself -- with the added title of "Golden Globe winner" -- is reward enough.

"It would've felt a tad greedy to get a nom from them this time around," Taylor-Johnson explains. "You know when you see trailers, and it’ll say ‘Golden Globe winner’ and then the actor’s name? That's awesome. It’s like a stamp that says, 'This is a film with a real actor.'"


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