Taron Egerton is Johnny, the Soulful Gorilla in “Sing”

Young British actor Taron Egerton, known to audiences worldwide for his work inKingsman: The Secret Service, lends his voice to the teenage gorilla Johnny, in Universal Pictures and Illumination’s Sing, a musical comedy about finding the shining star that lives inside all of us.

(Watch the featurette Be Like Johnny at http://youtu.be/ybKWEspdoJ4.)

A soulful, Cockney gorilla, Johnny’s beautiful singing voice and passion for music are in direct opposition to his role in his father’s bank-robbing crew. He has always resisted a life of crime but has no choice as he was born into it. Johnny wants to be a singer but knows that his alpha-male father would disown him, if he knew the truth. He keeps his involvement in the singing competition a secret, straddling a double life as an aspiring singer by day and getaway driver by night.

Of the passionate ape, editor Gregory Perler reveals: “When Johnny’s father gets put in prison, he considers stealing the prize money to bail him out. He has a change of heart, and begins to work harder and harder to win the prize money instead of stealing it.”

The filmmakers were stunned when they first heard the Welsh actor’s singing voice. “Every one of our performers corresponds to their role in a way that amplifies the character,” says producer and Illumination founder Chris Meledandri. “You feel Taron’s eagerness to turn Johnny’s struggle into something quite deeply embodied, and he alternates between ‘Stay with Me,’ ‘All of You’ and ‘I’m Still Standing’ with equal measure. When we first heard Taron deliver the initial notes of one of Johnny’s songs, we knew audiences will be enchanted by his abilities.”

Actor Taron Egerton poses at the world premiere of the film “Sing” in Los Angeles, California, December 3, 2016. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok – RTSUJBM

Sing stars Academy Award® winners Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon, alongside Seth McFarlane, Scarlett Johansson, John C. Reilly, Taron Egerton and Grammy Award-nominated Tori Kelly.

Set in a world like ours but entirely inhabited by animals, Sing stars Buster Moon (McConaughey), a dapper koala who presides over a once-grand theater that has fallen on hard times. Buster is an eternal—some might even say delusional—optimist who loves his theater above all and will do anything to preserve it. Now faced with the crumbling of his life’s ambition, he has one final chance to restore his fading jewel to its former glory by producing the world’s greatest singing competition.

Five lead contestants emerge: Mike (MacFarlane), a mouse who croons as smoothly as he cons; Meena (Kelly), a timid teenage elephant with an enormous case of stage fright; Rosita (Witherspoon), an overtaxed mother run ragged tending a litter of 25 piglets; Johnny (Egerton), a young gangster gorilla looking to break free of his family’s felonies; and Ash (Johansson), a punk-rock porcupine struggling to shed her arrogant boyfriend and go solo.

Each arrives under Buster’s marquee believing that this is their shot to change the course of their life. And as Buster coaches each of his contestants closer and closer to the grand finale, he starts to learn that maybe the theater isn’t the only thing that is in need of saving.

Opening across the Philippines on January 04, 2017, Sing is distributed by United International Pictures through Columbia Pictures. #SingMovie