Taron Egerton has said he found it “liberating” to shave his head after he split up with his girlfriend.
The Kingsman actor, who had been in a relationship with girlfriend Emily Thomas, adopted the dramatic new look after wrapping production on the Elton John biopic Rocket Man.
He told the Press Association: “I actually found it quite liberating because I just finished the Elton John thing and I had this awful hair so I shaved my hair cos they had thinned it right out and given me this bald patch.
“It was very cathartic getting rid of it and also, not to put a downer on things, I split up with my girlfriend not long ago and it weirdly felt a bit like reinvention.
“It felt quite empowering to sort of change the way I look.”
He added his Elton John haircut was “not the one, especially when you’re single and ready to mingle”.
The star, 29, revealed he had been keen to play the part years before he was cast, when Tom Hardy was still attached to the role.
He said: “I emailed my agency a few years ago and said ‘Is Tom really going to do this, because if not I would really like to throw my name into the ring?’
“I have always wanted to do it and then they said ‘No, he is going to do it,’ so I put that to bed.”
“Then he (John) was in Kingsman 2 and one day Matthew (Vaughn, the director) came and said ‘I think they are feeling a bit like it’s now a stretch for Tom to play someone who is 18, how do you feel about it?’ And I was like ‘f****** hell are you joking?’
“And that was in early 2016 and it took a couple of years to get going and we just wrapped.
“It was a long journey but it’s been phenomenally rewarding. It’s been a protracted thing.”
An epic musical fantasy. An uncensored human story. #Rocketman pic.twitter.com/dyqgk7sVlV
— Paramount Pictures (@ParamountUK) October 28, 2018
Egerton’s latest role is in a new big screen version of Robin Hood, in which he plays the veteran turned vigilante.
He said: “None of us wanted to make a Robin Hood movie that people have seen before and the way it was pitched to me was as a gritty re-imagining, something that was character-driven, which I think it is.
“What I liked the idea of was doing a version of a very famous hero, but giving him some real vulnerability and wobbliness.
The people need a warrior. 🏹 @TaronEgerton is the man behind the hood, alongside @IAmJamieFoxx and Jamie Dornan. Don't miss #RobinHood in cinemas Nov 21. pic.twitter.com/HJnW9PNbQ3
— Lionsgate UK (@LionsgateUK) November 15, 2018
“They are the things that I find really interesting, when someone who is not coping is doing something amazing.
“I think that is far more emotionally affecting than Superman, who does it all perfectly unless there is a bit of green rock, in which case he feels a bit sick.
“That just doesn’t rock my world, it doesn’t matter how great the actor is playing him.
Lord. Soldier. Warrior. Thief. The new trailer for #RobinHoodMovie has arrived! Starring @TaronEgerton, @IAmJamieFoxx, @EveHewson, Jamie Dornan, Ben Mendelsohn, and @TimMinchin, in theaters this November. pic.twitter.com/3pq5YPmriw
— Robin Hood – 2018 (@robinhoodmovie) July 17, 2018
“I just think fundamentally the character is too perfect, which is why the Hulk and Spider-Man work, because they are troubled guys, they are struggling, so I think that is what I liked about it.
“I thought there was scope to give the character a certain dimension and tell the story of how he became Robin Hood as well, which is not something that I think we have seen a great deal of.”
Robin Hood is released in UK cinemas on November 21.