Taron Egerton believes he was born to play musical icon Elton John in the biopic Rocketman, insisting, “I’ve always felt it was the role for me.”
The “Robin Hood” actor also confirmed to Metro that he is singing in the film, too. “It is my voice,” he insists. “I try to sort of do nods of the head to Elton.”
“But his voice has changed so much. His sound when he was 23 is so different to his sound when he was in his 50s, 60s, or now when he is in his 70s. So I just tried to create something that was of the spirit of Elton.”
“In terms of prep for singing we did a lot of pre-recording and a lot of working on the songs in advance. I think my voice grew through that.”
“It is a confidence thing. They are muscles, you know? The more you use them, and if you have good guidance, the better you get.”
Egerton even does “bits” of piano playing “Rocketman,” but stresses, “I’m not a f***ing pianist, but I do bits.”
Egerton is also keen to stress that “Rocketman” is far from a normal musical biopic, as it combines the story of John’s career with elements of fantasy.
“It is definitely more like ‘Tommy’ than a musical biopic. It is out there. It is a non-naturalistic story. Weird s*** happens in it.”
“But that’s part of the fun of it. Because Elton is larger than life and his story should be told in a way that is elevated.”
“There is nothing pedestrian about him. We’ve had a really good time and I think it will be really good so I am super excited about it.”
But how did Egerton originally get involved in “Rocketman”?
“I met Elton John on ‘Kingsman 2.’ That’s where the conversation started to happen. [‘Rocketman’s’ producer] Matthew Vaughan was the one who mentioned it. I think they were struggling to get it off the ground really.”
“Tom Hardy was attached to it, but he had got a bit too old. Matthew asked if I was interested and I said, ‘Does a bear s*** in the woods?’ It took a couple of years to get going but we have literally just finished it.”
Egerton has high hopes for “Rocketman,” as he believes it will show audiences a much different side to his talents than they’ve been accoustomed to seeing.
“I am so associated with ‘Kingsman,’ and now ‘Robin Hood’ has come off the back of it. I think that people think of me as an action guy. And that is so not who I am. As much as I enjoy it, don’t get me wrong.”
“So Elton John really represents me trying to show the world that there is more to me.”
“Rocketman” is released on May 31, 2019.
