Taron Egerton signed up for Black Bird to prove he is capable of darker roles

Taron Egerton joined TV miniseries Black Bird to prove that he isn't just an action movie and musicals star.

In the new six-part psychological thriller, the Rocketman actor plays convicted drug dealer Jimmy Keene, who is offered a deal to leave prison early if he can get fellow inmate - Larry Hall, played by Paul Walter Hauser - to confess where he buried the body of at least one missing girl.

Speaking to The New York Times, the Welsh star explained that he wanted Black Bird to show he was capable of more diverse roles following Elton John biopic Rocketman and animated musical Sing 2.

"I wanted to do something that felt really different from Rocketman," he said. "People tend to think of you as the last thing you did. They don't want to take that risk on giving an actor a role that they've not seen them do a version of before."

The 32-year-old explained that he wants his career to have a mix of light and heavy roles as well as musical and non-musical parts.

"A part like Jimmy - or, indeed, a part like Elton - they are absolutely the roles I want from my career," he added. "That's not to say everything I want to do needs to be heavy and dark - I'm definitely drawn to that stuff - but it's really, really creatively nourishing to have writing like that because it makes you want to bring your absolute best."

Black Bird is streaming on Apple TV+ now.