I Can’t Stop Thinking About Taron Egerton and His Chiseled Jaw in ‘Black Bird’

Embarrassing (definitely) fun (maybe) fact (because it’s true): I think about how Jay Leno titled his memoir Leading With My Chin way too much. But the fact is, the title makes me consider the idea that everyone leads with some physical feature, or a walk, or a signature move; it’s often something that actors try to discover about characters they play, something that informs their physicality or their relationships to others. In The Bear, you could argue it was Carmy’s greasy hair. In Reacher, it was the squinty stare attached to the top of Reacher’s Incredible Hulk body. After watching the first three episodes of Apple TV+’s Black Bird, I can safely say Taron Egerton leads with his finely chiseled jaw.

I have never seen Taron Egerton’s jaw work before. Not really. I feel like I’m familiar with a bunch of his roles, I’ve watched Sing and Sing 2, where he played Johnny the singing gorilla, many times over (I have kids), and I have seen Rocketman, the film for which he won a Golden Globe playing Elton John. But Sing is a voice role, and in Rocketman he so thoroughly embodied Elton John (or, perhaps more accurately, he was obscured by elaborate costumes) that he disappeared in the role, and it has made me realize I have never really noticed Egerton himself.

In Black Bird, Egerton plays Jimmy Keene, a small-time drug dealer who cuts a deal to collaborate with the Feds and try to and get close to a serial killer named Larry Hall (played by Paul Walter Hauser, who leads with his burnsides in the show, how dare you call them sideburns). If Keene can get Hall to trust him, then maybe he will admit to the killings of several young women, killings that local police have been unable to dig up enough evidence to prove Hall is responsible for. And if he can do all of that, Keene’s own sentence will be commuted. The stakes are high, it’s a dangerous situation that relies on Keene not blowing his cover, and there’s no guarantee Keene can get Hall to talk. So he’s perpetually stressed out as he grapples with how to manipulate Hall into trusting him and confessing. He’s performing Joey Tribbiani’s “Smell The Fart Acting” on steroids. And Egerton’s face, his emotions, his tight jaw are at the forefront of everything. My dentist would surely be forcing him into a prescription night guard based on this clench. His character has agreed to participate in a difficult scheme, and his muscly jaw deserves above-the-title billing. (No offense meant to his furrowed brow which is also working hard for it’s own SAG-AFTRA card.)

Egerton reportedly works out a lot. His abs make an uncredited cameo in episode one and they took my breath away. The man should have mallets dangling from his shorts so people (me) can play his torso like a marimba. His body has been the subject of features in both Men’s Health AND Men’s Journal. He is chiseled from his jawline to his (I assume) round, grapefruity calves. But look, this is not some thirsty post about a man with a nice physique. (Or is it? I feel I’ve lost the plot.) What I’m saying is that Egerton has certainly proven he is a multi-talented performer, a singer and dancer, but also a formidable beefcake, a Mr. Zero you don’t want to f–k with. There are few Hollywood actors who have the kind of range that can convincingly perform big jukebox musicals with the same ease that they can play a brutish prisoner, or an action star. Off the top of my head, one of the only other stars whose career seamlessly toggles between all of those genres is Hugh Jackman. It’s ironic then that Egerton is eager to be cast in the role that made Jackman a superhero, Wolverine. (Though his casting is just a rumor, Egerton has confirmed in several interviews that he’s spoken to Marvel’s Kevin Feige about the role.)

Black Bird is providing Egerton an opportunity to show his range. He’s a producer on the show, so it seems like this is probably an intentional career move. Though I haven’t seen his entire body (wink) of work, I haven’t seen him perform anything like this before, and, despite my preoccupation with his jaw, I am able to see the rest of his performance for it’s skill and complexity. Thanks to Black Bird, Egerton seems to be opening up his career to other bigger, darker, more physical roles, and it would come as no surprise to me if he does take over the Marvel Cinematic Universe eventually. (His next project is a film based on the video game Tetris, the video game that is every bit as angular as his bone structure.)

If Egerton is cast as Wolverine, obviously he’ll lead with his claws. But for the next few weeks, I’ll be watching my TV set, eyed glued to that refined jaw, waiting to see what choices it’s going to make.

Liz Kocan is a pop culture writer living in Massachusetts. Her biggest claim to fame is the time she won on the game show Chain Reaction.