Aaron Johnson believes that his new role in Kick Ass, which is directed by Matthew Vaughn, allowed him to do something different.
Johnson takes on the title character of Kick Ass in the new superhero comedy, which also stars Nicolas Cage and Christopher Mintz-Plasse.
Speaking to the Press Association the actor said: "Before Angus, Thongs And Perfect Snogging, I was playing 14 - 15-year-old drug addict types, and I had drama pieces before, and they can almost get chucked away with one film that you do - it's hard to get out of that.
"The moment that happened, I wanted to go f****** over there, I wanted to run so far over that way and that was when Kick-Ass came over.
"It was the opposite to playing a heartthrob. It was playing a geeky, nerdy, American bushy-haired kid who dresses up as a superhero and gets his a** kicked and beaten up all the time," he added.
The last time we saw Johnson on the big screen was in biopic picture Nowhere Boy, in which he played a John Lennon, and the actor admits that he likes to mix up his roles.
"I can't stay in one position - I like being versatile, and jumping from group to group. I love drama, I love something that's challenging so Nowhere Boy was a fantastic piece for me to get into and mould the character. It's kind of scary."
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