And I think if I don't do myself the service of spending time learning that skill, then I'm an idiot.". He has a real duality to him. The glitter. Its a story about a man whos not well becoming well, and I think it was a moving experience for him. "I was most proud of the work that was characterized by being only really suitable for an older viewer," Egerton says. Egerton co-starred in the movie Testament of Youth, based on the life of Vera Brittain, and also featured as Liam in the two-part episode The RamblinBoy in the seventh series of Lewis. But he's quick to reject the idea that he might put out an album of his own. Theres a world in which Elton maybe shouldnt have taken him too seriously (laughs). After John and Furnish took him to Brandi Carlile's concert performance of Joni Mitchell's Blue as an early 30th birthday gift, they all wound up at Mitchell's house singing "Tiny Dancer" with Carlile. Bring it up to the director, Im with you," he said. It was absolutely fine. Ultimately it's more a sweeping series of musical-fantasy sequences than a faithfully realistic biopic, and by most accounts, John was less involved in the daily work than Furnish. How much time is spent in the film is he singing and playing the piano? The most important thing is that its a musical, says director Dexter Fletcher, who arrives to our interview singing a song from Little Shop of Horrors. By Chloe Foussianes Published: Jan 5, 2020. The Kingsman movies and Robin Hood star was just 18 when John first started developing a film about his life. A graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, he lives in Brooklyn, where he can be found DJing '60s soul records. Rocketman, directed by Richard Lester, is a biographical musical film about a young musician named Rocketman. There was no element of awkwardness or strangeness. The film grossed $195 million worldwide on a budget of $40 million, and has so far scored major nominations at the Golden Globes, SAG Awards, and Critics Choice Awards. In the action-adventure-drama, a prequel to Jim Hensons 1982 The Dark Crystal, Taron stars with Caitriona Balfe, Helena Bonham Carter, Mark Hamill and Alicia Vikander. All Rights reserved. ", Because Rocketman is a film about a gay '70s rock icon, comparisons to Bohemian Rhapsody were inevitable, even before both had been released. Based on the life and career of singer Elton John (played by Taron Egerton), the film focuses on his early years. Then theres the specter of Bohemian Rhapsody to talk through. The first films success catapulted Egerton to popularity and landed him a three-film deal with 20th Century Fox. I recorded a version of it just before Dont Go Breaking My Heart, then Honky Cat. Its been such a joy to get to grips with those more obscure songs. "And it seems to heighten peoples' response to and affection for him.". John's R-rated exploits frame the film, starting with his stint in rehab for multiple addictions, flashing back through years of substance use, toxic relationships and legendary fits of anger. Where possible, where it felt isolated and just me on set, I was absolutely insistent that it be captured live. And mainly I just watched what happened to that movie feeling intensely proud for my friend Dexter. Egertons dedication to the role is evident in his performance, and the film is definitely worth watching for his impressive portrayal of Elton John. But its an inspiring [line]. And we hope that the audience will feel excited by that as we are. In the film, he plays a part in a talent show. Egerton is performing Crocodile Rock when he, the piano, and the entire concert crowd begin to levitate. Watch on. Taron Egerton: Net Worth, Biography, Career, Personal, And Facts Taron is a variant of the Welsh word taran, which means thunder. Egertons family-owned and operated bed and breakfast. His essence is as if a kaleidoscope exploded into a person: trippy, messy, hypnotizing, bright, garish, and altogether unique and fabulous. He is a Welsh actor and singer. He Instagrammed a photo of him with the caption Look at this hottie, and a million sources stated he was coming; out as homosexual I am not homosexual, but two of my friends came out when I was 15, and it was a delight to support them since we are all confident in our identities as a group. He clarified. Its easy to see why his voice has been compared to that of Elton John. So, in that sense, Bryan Singer snagging a PG-13 for his blustery Freddie Mercury biopic was as much about getting certain adult moviegoers as it was about getting kids, to the extent that youngsters would care about a group that was already "old" when Wayne's World came out 27 years ago. As Taron did not have a dialect coach, he listened to Plan B polish his character Eggsys London accent in Kingsman: The Secret Service. Elton is quite interested in the world around him, and theres something quite infectious about that. Taron Egerton is a Welsh actor and a singer born on 10 November 1989 in Birkenhead, United Kingdom. Looking back on his life, Taron Egerton seemed destined to portray Sir Elton Hercules John in Rocketman the new based on a true fantasy musical biopic. Though Rocketman was produced by Furnish, John didnt see it in full until the premiere at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this month. At this time, there is no word on a third Sing film, but considering that Sing 2 was the highest-grossing animated movie of 2021, we can see it happening. It also meant another solid paycheck for the performer. There is no information on how much Taron Egerton earned in the part of Rocketman. This was great news for Egerton, who was able to tack on another hit to his resume. "Elton's recognizable the world over, and there was a version of this film that we could have released that would have frankly made more money that didn't deal with that part of who he was. We got on with it and we did our job. Scrutiny is going to be a part of that.. Yes, yes he did. I think thats something that we share., That duality is a recurring theme of Rocketman, in which the adult John tries to make peace with the unhappy and misunderstood little boy inside, born Reggie Dwight in the London suburb of Pinner. Do You Know Elmira Minita Gordon Net Worth, Biography, Career? Its not a biopic. Taron Egerton stars as Henk Rogers, a Dutch entrepreneur determined to secure the licensing . He was crying out for help, whether he knew it or not, and for whatever reason he didnt get that help. I think he wanted us to do something impressionistic rather than photographic, Egerton says. The deluge of pre-release controversies helped keep Bohemian Rhapsody in the press. Another mere mortal cant capture that. There is no one definitive answer to this question. It's not quite our Elton. Egerton amassed his riches via his successful acting and singing careers. In the video, he plays piano parts from the film. The conversations about Bryan Singer's rumored history of inappropriate sexual behavior and/or whether the movie would hide (or condemn) Mercury's status as a bisexual man who died of AIDS, were both valuable in keeping the film in the spotlight and irrelevant to 99% of paying consumers. 2023 Oscars predictions: See who will win at the 95th Academy Awards. PREVIEW. "Filmmaking is inherently a collaborative medium, and to over-prepare to the point where it becomes slightly manufactured that could be the death of the performance," he says. The night before, John and Egerton celebrated the Rocketman premiere by taking literal center stage at an elaborate after-party on the beach. Its sort of done. They looked like two young boys. Egerton himself has admitted that he feared the intimate scenes between himself and Richard Madden, who plays Johns former lover and manager John Reid, would be edited out, as is common with studio films. . The Kingsman Franchise Boosted His Net Worth To $6 Million It's always fascinating to watch a young actor break into the movie industry by landing a role in a surprise hit film, and this is precisely the route that Taron Egerton took to mainstream stardom. Fletcher has gone on record saying that, while he made sure to do the best job he could in the stressful and rushed Bohemian Rhapsody situation, he was not emotionally attached to it.. Contact Us, [1]: https://en.24smi.org/celebrity/48371-taron-egerton.html, [2]: https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/taron-egerton-36472.php, [3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taron_Egerton. ", When I saw Taron, I was not looking at him, I was looking at me, John told guild members after a screening this fall. We always knew, just by virtue of the fact that its a musical, that it was going to be a different animal, Egerton says. Rocketman, which John and Furnish spent over a decade trying to bring to the screen, could have easily suffered from its subject being too close to both the story and its star. Egerton has the same charisma and enthusiasm as he does when he plays an actor. The comparisons between the two films were inevitable, considering both centered on the lives of gay 70s British rock icons and were released so close together; Rocketmans Cannes premiere came less than three months after Rami Malek wrapped up his Oscars speech for playing Freddie Mercury. hook due to Aladdin's surprising popularity. Taron Egerton - Age, Bio, Birthday, Family, Net Worth | National Today The latest movie news, trailers, reviews, and more. Egerton, who in person is affable and sincere, has spent a significant amount of the last three years on Rocketman: rehearsing and filming, recording its soundtrack at Abbey Road, promoting its release, and now extending the movie's reach into awards season. Elton clearly desired it, and he had no reservations about it. At just 32 years old, Taron Egerton is a performer who has been stacking up the credits and the accolades during his time in Hollywood. We met for the first time when I was filming the wedding scene, Egerton tells PEOPLE in this weeks issue. As Taron Egerton suggested in his quote to THR, half of Bohemian Rhapsody's record-breaking money is still about half a billion dollars worldwide, a success by any metric for a film of this size . And theres the costumes. "Until I saw the final cut of the movie, I never really relaxed," says Egerton, who was particularly worried that the intimate scenes between his and Madden's character would be edited out. I pulled a moony to the crew at the start of the day just to kill some of the tension. Taron Egerton as Elton John in Rocketman. To them, Rocketman was just another decent musical biopic with less razzle dazzle and less of a "must see this in theaters" allure. ", There were physical transformations a painted gap between his front teeth, his hairline shaved down to mimic John's early baldness. Taron Egerton Reacts Crying After 'Rocketman' Cannes - IndieWire He jumped in to produce, drafted Dexter Fletcherthe man who would eventually take over Bohemian Rhapsody helming duties from Bryan Singerto direct, and suggested his Kingsman star to take over as John. It's not quite the music that you exactly know. Everything about it was extraordinary.. While it is known that Elton John is a highly accomplished pianist, it is not clear who played the piano on any given track. Its clear that Egerton had a blast playing John, and hes said that it was one of the most fun roles hes ever had the chance to play. Egerton sings two songs in the film: "The Way I . For us, of course, we hope that international audiences connect with the movie and love it in the way that they love Eltons music. He repaid the gift by dressing in drag with his girlfriend, then leaving a Polaroid of the look in John and Furnish's guest book at their house in France. Yes, of course. Rocketman - Awards - IMDb Elton circa 1976 plays an important role in the film, and Taron has perfect mannerisms and looks like he is doing it. And while it still has a few territories in which to open (the Philippines, Hong Kong, Lebanon and Thailand this week and Japan on August 23), it's currently playing at a 49/51 split with around $140 million worldwide. He and costar Richard Madden, who plays John's first boyfriend and eventual manager, John Reid, gamely teased each other in marathon junket sessions and promotional stunts. It's a strange comparison, but consider Avengers: Age of Ultron which debuted with mostly positive reviews only to be tagged as a miss when it "only" opened with $191 million and caught got up in the "It's problematic!" "Rocketman works and thrives when it feels like it's existing in a realm that isn't quite our world. It should have been his crowning achievement, but just days before John had tried to take his own life. Clearly, there is interest in the property, and stars like McConaughey have already said that they would be on board for another film. Its, of course, hard work. When you get to the end of your teens, youre not like, Thats the end of my teens! Youre like, Yeah! "Maybe Sing 3, but it wasnt in this one and a lot of people have been saying that and Im like thats right, Buster Moon should sing, whistle, diddy, hum, dance, something. If any of this was considered a gamble, it seems to be paying off. But there are two opinions that are most important in the world, and its Elton and Bernies. And where Elton John was known for refusing to take himself seriously, especially onstage, Egerton has approached this role of a lifetime as if it is, in fact, a lifelong commitment. Rocketman is in theaters May 31st. To help him prep for the role, "we managed to find Elton's hand-written diaries from 1970 to 1976," John's husband, David Furnish, told THR. Theres no doubt that Taron Egerton enjoyed playing Elton John. Listen to Rocketman (Music from the Motion Picture) by Taron Egerton & Elton John on Apple Music. Im lucky enough to write about film and television for a living, with some fun trivia sprinkled in, too. The voice of Taron Egerton is spot-on, and the films authenticity is enhanced even more by his performance as Rocketman. Jordan Runtagh is an Executive Podcast Producer at iHeartRadio, where he hosts a slate of pop culture shows including Too Much Information, Inside the Studio, Off the Record and Rivals: Music's Greatest Feuds. Taron Egerton battles the KGB in Tetris trailer | EW.com "My voice gets deeper over the course of the film, and my accent changes. The 30-year-old actor dished about his first meeting with the legendary musician while . Stylistically, were a musical thats a biopic. And while no one should have expected the Taron Egerton-as-Elton John biopic to mimic the insane $216 million domestic/$905 million worldwide success of Bryan Singer's Bohemian Rhapsody, the issue at hand is less about Rocketman not quite "over-performing" and more about the studio releasing it. He'd sung in the past for film roles in 2016's Sing, as an animated gorilla, he even performs Elton John's "I'm Still Standing" and along with Eddie the Eagle costar Hugh Jackman he contributed an '80s-inspired synth-pop track to the movie's closing credits. Amidst those big set pieces, he grounded his performance in an abundance of preparation, even if that meant learning to quick-draw arrows until he could fire as many as three a second. Hartley had previously worked with Sting on the Disney film The Emperors New Groove. But Elton John is also an extraordinarily outspoken celebrity, especially about the tough stuff. Both men have experienced tragedy and triumph in their long careers, with Egerton revealing that he cried when he first heard Eltons new album. Tom Sizemore, Heat and Saving Private Ryan Actor, Dead at 61 In the films centerpiece scene, Egerton as John sings the title song before 50,000 people at L.A.s Dodger Stadium, the biggest solo show anyone had ever done up to that point. Powered by InsiderPeeps. Dora and the City of Lost Gold is a coin toss, Crawl is a pure genre play and both Will Smith's Gemini Man and Blake Lively's Rhythm Section look like prime candidates for audiences who claim to want original or high concept movies for adults to ignore while complaining that Hollywood doesn't make anything for them anymore. And when I was hearing his voice, I was hearing me, but it wasnt me. Excerpts from our interview with Taron in London: What is it about playing Elton John that surprised you? Its not any other description you want to give it. A year later, John made a cameo in Egertons Kingsman: The Golden Circle movie. Elton met Egerton for the first time in 2017, when he was cast as a small part in Kingsman: The Golden Circle. They began to spend time together as a result, however, after Elton vetoed Tom Hardy, who was supposed to play the Rocketman, explaining, I couldnt sing. The actor and his subject, as they have Throughout their friendship, Egerton and Elton exchanged stories about everything from music to life as a whole. Please try again. Stream songs including "The Bitch Is Back (Introduction)", "I Want Love" and more. Theres this phrase that Im going to paraphrase: Bored people are boring and interesting people are really fucking interested, he says. In a vacuum, Fletcher's Rocketman earning $180 million worldwide on a $41 million budget would be pretty great, even compared to Bohemian Rhapsody (which Fletcher famously ghost-directed at the end after Fox fired Bryan Singer). Elton John mistook Taron Egerton in Rocketman make-up for himself Its amazing music. Taron Egerton 's magnificent turn as Elton John in Rocketman has rightfully gained the actor a host of awards and nominations, but his transformation into the singer was so on point that even . Egerton is thankful that his films approach to Elton Johns life stood in such stark relief to last years Oscar winners approach to Queen frontman Freddie Mercury. It seems like it was just yesterday that the actor was making waves as the new kid on the block, but these days, he is a household name who is capable of turning heads with his acting abilities. I didnt really know the song Hercules before the movie. Copyright 2020. The actor apologizes for the rasp in his voicea result of a really great weekend in which he celebrated his 30th birthdaywhen we meet in New York ahead of award-season campaigning for his work in the film, which just this week garnered him Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations, and solid footing in a turbulent Best Actor Oscars race. The film Rocketman, starring Taron Egerton as Sir Elton John, has received rave reviews. Egerton started acting when he was 15, then scored a scholarship to London's prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, from which he graduated in 2012 and within a year was cast as the young lead in a highly stylized spy action film alongside Colin Firth. Despite not playing the piano or singing like Elton John himself, Taron Egerton did an amazing job portraying the iconic musician in Rocketman. There are things in history and his personal life that we are going to address, and that does mean he might kiss a man. The performance is taking place as a result of him taking singing lessons. 4:30. Fletcher explains that for the sequence the Egerton-Madden love scene appears in, he had also filmed a sex scene between Jamie Bells Bernie Taupin and Sharmina Harrowers Heather, to show John and Taupin on parallel rock-star journeys to sexual freedom. Send us a tip using our anonymous form. Its like Little Shop of Horrors, a fucking plant comes down from outer space and ends up eating people and singing, but theres something very real and relatable about it still. Yeah, I still listen to the songs for pleasure, which is a testament to how wonderful they are. He began acting as a child, and he also took piano lessons and worked with Michael L. Roberts, who taught Egerton a lot about singing. Egerton did not meet John until after the film Kingsman: The Golden Circle had finished. It was not a by-the-numbers biopic with a mimic lead performance. ", Egerton, who is modest at his most self-congratulatory, cautiously approves of the result which Elton John has specifically praised in a typically reflective fashion. Ditto Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman. The Welsh actor will be in charge of playing the legendary singer in this film. Maybe thats a testament to Rocketman producing something very Elton John, which is to say audacious and proudly weird, in the spirit of what Egerton thinks might be the best lesson hes learned from the idol who has, in the twist of his life thus far, become a close friend. Of course, R-rated musical doesnt necessarily have the cha-ching ring of dollar signs to it. #Sing2 director Garth Jennings answers a question I've had for years: Did #TaronEgerton get the role of #EltonJohn in "Rocketman" because of the first "Sing".