More than 15 years later, Aaron Taylor-Johnson is unpacking a millennial teen fave that hasn’t aged well with at least one fan.
The Golden Globe winner reminisced about Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (2008), based on Louise Rennison’s young adult novels, as one fan of the rom-com shared how her take on the film has evolved over the years.
“Dave ‘The Laugh’ (Tommy Bastow) deserved better,” said the caller on BBC Radio 1, to which Taylor-Johnson confusedly responded, “Dave ‘The Laugh’? Who’s that?”
Refreshing his memory, the fan explained, “You say that he’s his friend. You get chipped with him at the beginning of the movie. But then Dave absolutely pines over Georgia (played by Georgia Groome) for the entire film.”
“Does he?” the actor replied. “Poor dave.”
The caller — also named Georgia — noted that Taylor-Johnson’s heartthrob character Robbie Jennings, the object of Georgia’s affection, “has a girlfriend throughout the entirety, then takes Georgia off him.”
“What mate takes another guy’s crush?” she asked.
“He’s a wrongen’,” quipped Taylor-Johnson before defending the role. “I almost feel like, Georgia, you didn’t feel like that back in the day. I think you’re lying. I think that you didn’t care for Dave at all, not one bit, when you watched that movie. And now, when you recently watched it, you went ‘aww’ and you just felt sympathetic for poor Dave. And now you’re thinking, ‘Well actually…’”
Tommy Bastow as Dave ‘The Laugh’ in Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (2008). (Paramount)
Caller Georgia agreed, admitting that she too would “go for the heartthrob” and that she felt character Georgia “made all the right decisions” as a kid, but now she sees it through a different lens.
“You’ve matured now,” Taylor-Johnson explained. “That’s what happens though. … Well, I appreciate that, Georgia. I’m very proud of you for coming on this show and not being scared to say what you really feel. That’s growth right there.”
Co-written and directed by Gurinder Chadha, Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging follows 14-year old Georgia Nicholson as she pursues her crush Robbie while worrying about her parents’ marriage and the embarrassing moments of adolescence.