The show must go on. It’s a standard mantra for the live-theater community, understanding that when the program has begun, very few things can stop that train. So when Rocketman and Kingsman: The Secret Service star Taron Egerton fainted on stage during the West End premiere of his new show COCK – yes, on Opening Night, no less – the curtain fell briefly, and the understudy stepped in to finish the show. Patrons, and fans around the world, were concerned about what happened to Egerton during his COCK debut, but now he has taken to his Instagram Stories (via Deadline) to ease concerns with the following post:
As some of you may have heard, I passed out during the first performance of COCK last night. I am completely fine. Slightly sore neck and a bruised ego but I’m fine. … I’ve decided to put a positive spin on it and I would appreciate it if anyone who was in the theatre last night just said that I gave such a committed, electrifying performance that my body couldn’t handle it and checked out.
Apparently, Taron Egerton was 90 minutes into the West End performance of the Saturday night previews of COCK. Egerton was seen to by a doctor who happened to be in the audience, and his understudy, Joel Harper-Jackson, stepped in so that the show could be completed. Egerton made sure to thank Harper-Jackson, who he called “an amazing actor and a lovely person” for rising to the occasion and rounding out the performance.
In COCK, Taron Egerton plays the boyfriend of an openly gay man (Jonathan Bailey of Bridgerton) who begins to question his sexuality and committed relationship when he meets and falls in love with a woman (played by Jade Anouka). The play’s official opening night is scheduled for March 15.
Taron Egerton has more than enough experience with theater, as well as film musicals. The actor turned so many heads when he stepped into the role of Sir Elton John for the biopic Rocketman, for which he spent months learning to play the piano well enough to fake it on screen. This is exactly the type of commitment we’ve come to expect from Egerton, an actor who literally threw himself down stairs while filming on Rocketman, just to nail a scene that he felt was important.
Taron Egerton will be busy with the West End show for the time being, so don’t ask him what the latest news on a third Kingsman movie might be. That franchise seems determined to explore a bevy of prequels, sequels, and spinoffs… at least, that’s what Matthew Vaughn told us in an exclusive interview. Right now, the next movie Egerton is scheduled to appear in is Tetris, a film about the creation of that addicting game that finds the actor rocking a sweet mustache. It’s currently in post-production and is expected to arrive in 2022.