It has been over a decade since Joe Wright decided to turn a 900-page Tolstoy masterpiece into what looks like a crumbling puppet theater. Honestly, looking back at the 2012 adaptation, it’s one of the weirdest and most beautiful risks ever taken in period drama. And right at the center of that risk, usually sporting a bleached-blonde mustache and a uniform so crisp it looks like it would shatter if he sat down, is Aaron Taylor-Johnson in Anna Karenina.
Casting him as Count Vronsky was... a choice. He was 21 at the time. Keira Knightley was 27. Jude Law, playing the "stuffy" husband Karenin, was only 39 but made to look like a dusty gargoyle. The age gaps and the sheer "pretty boy" energy Taylor-Johnson brought to the screen still spark heated debates on Reddit and in film circles today. Was he too young? Was he miscast? Or did he perfectly capture the callow, shallow obsession that Tolstoy actually wrote about?
The "Toy Soldier" Vronsky: A Misunderstanding of the Role?
People often complain that Aaron Taylor-Johnson's Vronsky feels a bit light. He doesn't have that grizzled, brooding weight you might expect from a legendary Russian lover. But if you actually go back to the source material, Vronsky isn't a hero. He’s a wealthy, somewhat narcissistic cavalry officer who gets what he wants.
Joe Wright leaned into this. By casting Aaron Taylor-Johnson in Anna Karenina, he gave us a Vronsky who feels like a literal toy soldier. His performance is hyper-stylized. He preens. He poses. There is a "smugness" that some critics hated, but it serves the director’s vision of a society where everyone is performing.
The chemistry is where things get truly divisive. You’ve got Knightley doing her trademark "intense jaw" acting—which I personally love—and Taylor-Johnson looking like a literal porcelain doll. Some viewers felt there was zero heat between them. Others argue that the heat was exactly where it needed to be: purely physical and ultimately destructive.
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That Waltz Scene is Still a Masterpiece
If you haven’t seen the ballroom scene in a while, go watch it. It’s the high-water mark of Aaron Taylor-Johnson in Anna Karenina.
Choreographed by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, the dance isn't just a waltz. It’s a series of mechanical, interlocking movements where the rest of the world literally freezes while Anna and Vronsky move.
- The Movement: They use their arms like swan necks.
- The Sound: You can hear the rhythmic stamping of feet and the rustle of silk.
- The Metaphor: It shows that their affair isn't just a romance; it’s a disruption of the "social machinery."
Taylor-Johnson had to train for weeks in a workshop to get that specific, rigid grace. He’s basically playing a man who is a master of the "show" until the "show" starts falling apart.
The Theater Metaphor: Why Only Levin Gets to Go Outside
One of the most fascinating trivia bits about this movie is the staging. Almost the entire film was shot on a single "run-down theater" set built at Shepperton Studios. When characters walk through a door, they aren't going to another house; they are walking into the wings of a stage.
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Except for Levin.
Domhnall Gleeson’s character, Levin, is the only one who consistently films on real, outdoor locations. When we see him, we see the actual Russian countryside or the rolling hills of England. This was Joe Wright’s way of saying that Levin is the only "real" person in the story. Everyone else, including Aaron Taylor-Johnson in Anna Karenina, is trapped in a fake, performative world.
Vronsky is a product of the theater. He belongs to the stage, the costumes, and the lights. When the affair starts to rot and the "play" stops being fun, he doesn't know how to exist in the real world like Levin does.
Fact Check: What Really Happened Behind the Scenes
It wasn't all just pretty sets and dancing. The production was actually quite brutal for some of the cast.
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- Extreme Cold: While most of the film was in a studio, the scenes in Russia were real. Alicia Vikander (who played Kitty) famously stayed in a cabin with no hot water in -40°C weather, protected by guards from wolves.
- The Mustache: Yes, that was Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s real hair for the most part. It became a bit of a meme before memes were a thing.
- The Reusable Condom: There’s a scene where Jude Law’s character takes a small item out of a box. It’s a period-accurate reusable condom made of animal gut. Just a fun, slightly gross fact for your next trivia night.
- The Casting Change: Originally, Wright wanted to film on location in Russia, but the logistics were a nightmare. The "theater" idea was a last-minute pivot that saved the movie’s budget and gave it its unique identity.
Is It Worth a Rewatch?
Honestly, yeah. Whether you think Aaron Taylor-Johnson in Anna Karenina was a stroke of genius or a casting flop, the movie is never boring. It’s a sensory overload.
If you’re a fan of Taylor-Johnson now—knowing him from Bullet Train or his potential future as James Bond—it is wild to look back at him as this shimmering, golden-haired boy. He’s unrecognizable compared to the rugged roles he takes today.
Actionable Takeaway for Film Fans
If you want to appreciate the performance more, try this:
- Watch the Ballroom Scene first to see the peak of his "performance" as a socialite.
- Contrast it with the Horse Race scene, where the "theater" starts to feel claustrophobic and dangerous.
- Compare his Vronsky to the 1997 Sean Bean version. You’ll see exactly how Joe Wright traded "brooding soldier" for "theatrical peacock."
The film serves as a reminder that "accuracy" to a book isn't always the goal. Sometimes, the goal is to make you feel the suffocating, fake nature of high society. In that regard, the casting of a young, almost too-pretty Aaron Taylor-Johnson was exactly right.
To dive deeper into this specific era of cinema, look for the making-of featurettes focused on Sarah Greenwood’s production design. Understanding how they physically moved the sets while the actors were talking explains a lot about the "dizzying" feel of the first hour.