'Tetris' Interview: Taron Egerton Talks New Apple TV+ Movie

Moviefone speaks with Taron Egerton about 'Tetris.' "There is some Hollywood embellishment, but it really happened and it is an unbelievable, crazy story."

Premiering on Apple TV+ beginning March 31st is the new movie ‘Tetris,’ which was directed by Jon S. Baird (‘Stan & Ollie’).

Tetris

"The game you couldn't put down. The story you couldn't make up."

R1 hr 58 minMar 31st, 2023

Showtimes & Tickets

Watch Tetris Online

What is the plot of ‘Tetris?’

‘Tetris’ tells the unbelievable true story of how one of the world's most popular video games found its way to avid players around the globe. Henk Rogers (Taron Egerton) discovers Tetris in 1988, and then risks everything by traveling to the Soviet Union, where he joins forces with inventor Alexey Pajitnov (Nikita Efremov) to bring the game to the masses.

Who is in the cast of ‘Tetris?’

‘Tetris’ stars Taron Egerton (‘Rocketman,’ ‘The Kingsman: The Secret Service’), Nikita Efremov (‘Cinderella’), Anthony Boyle (‘The Lost City of Z’), Ben Miles (‘V for Vendetta’), Ken Yamamura (‘The Wolverine’), Rick Yune, (‘Olympus Has Fallen’) Roger Allam (‘Speed Racer’), Matthew Marsh (‘The Contractor’), Toby Jones (‘Empire of Light’), Igor Grabuzov, Oleg Shtefanko, Ayane Nagabuchi, and Sofia Lebedeva.

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Taron Egerton at the SXSW Film Festival about his work on ‘Tetris,’ the wild true story it is based on, working with director Jon S. Baird, and playing yet another real life person on screen.

Taron Egerton stars in 'Tetris,' premiering March 31, 2023 on Apple TV+.

You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Egerton, Henk Rogers, Alexey Pajitnov and director Jon S. Baird.

Moviefone: To begin with, the film is based on an unbelievable true story. What was your first reaction when you read the screenplay?

Taron Egerton: So my first reaction was to call (Producer) Matthew Vaughn, who was offering me the role and has been behind lots of the roles I've played, and try and get a sense of what percentage of this is fabricated with me thinking it might be 80 or 90%. It's a much more modest figure than that. There is some Hollywood embellishment, but not as much as you might think. There's something very exciting about that. There's always a level of weight that's added to something knowing that it really happened and it is a fairly unbelievable, crazy story.

(L to R) Togo Igawa, Nino Furuhata and Taron Egerton in 'Tetris,' premiering March 31, 2023 on Apple TV+.

MF: What was it like collaborating on this project with director Jon S. Baird?

TE: I am a producer on the film, but the work in terms of developing the script, that was done by Jon and Noah (Pink), the writer, and Matthew. I wasn't actively involved until the point that we were in pre-production. But Jon and I had a good rapport. We were shooting up in Scotland just at the end of the first year of COVID. We were all just super excited to get back into creative mode, and so we felt very lucky to be there and we had a really good time. Jon's a great guy.

(L to R) Taron Egerton and Nikita Efremov in 'Tetris,' premiering March 31, 2023 on Apple TV+.

MF: Finally, when you made ‘Rocketman,’ you spent a lot of time with Elton John to prepare for the role. Did you have an opportunity to spend any time with Henk Rogers and what did you learn that helped you with your performance?

TE: It's an interesting question. I mean, I think with Elton, the reason I spent so much time with him was because it's Elton John and that's quite exciting, and he was up for it. But also because Elton's so internationally recognizable that it felt like so many people were coming with such a weight of expectation to that movie that I had a responsibility to try and imbibe as much of who he was as possible. Whereas this is a bit different. I think audiences are coming with little to no expectation, largely, so it gives you a little bit more license to make the character your own, I think. But I did speak to Henk a little bit, and in terms of what I tried to do, I just wanted to create my version of him that tried to capture the spirit of who he was really. I wanted to capture his passion, enthusiasm and determination because those are his key qualities, certainly in the story of the film.