I didn’t need to prove anything to myself I just wanted to prove something to him. It shaped me into the performer that I am. JOHN My childhood really shaped the way I became as an artist, because I was determined to prove myself to my father, that I could be successful and I could do it my way. Why include the most painful parts of your childhood? The film could’ve started with your self-invention as an artist. I think there’s no point in sugarcoating anything - this is what happened, this is how I behaved, this is a real sad story of someone who was trying to get to grips with his past, but was extremely famous - onstage is where I felt at home, and offstage, I didn’t. I’ve always tried to be as honest as I can, since I got sober.
Even though it’s hard to watch what you’re going through and what you did to yourself, I find it cathartic. Was it cathartic in a way to dramatize it so openly? The word “fantasy” kept being brought up.Įlton, y ou spent your early career hiding your identity and your demons. I wasn’t 100 percent sure of what they were actually doing. I was slightly uncomfortable with the order of songs. I wanted my character to align with reality as much as possible. They were very amenable to my suggestions. There were certain profanities that made me uncomfortable - I’m not somebody who uses profanity. They sent me an initial script, and to be brutally honest, I wasn’t very happy with it. When did you first get wind of the project?īERNIE TAUPIN I guess you have to go back at least five years, but as time and space are not real friends of mine, it’s a little hard to say. I think the film eventually is about redemption, and how anyone can get redemption, if they try. It certainly had a huge impact on me, especially the family stuff and the Bernie stuff.
#Elton john rocket man original version movie#
Is the movie hard for you to sit through?ĮLTON JOHN The first time I saw it was in January or February, a very rough copy, and that was when I got the most emotional, because I just didn’t know what to expect. These are edited excerpts from the conversations. In separate phone interviews - Taupin, 69, from his home in California, and John from a tour stop in Copenhagen - the pair discussed putting their lives on film. The oldest is a soccer fiend, the youngest wants to be a singer: “He knows all the words to ‘Old Town Road’ - both remixes.” He splits his time among multiple homes with Furnish and their sons, ages 8 and 6. “My life is not a PG life.”Īt 72, John remains artistically engaged - in the midst of a farewell tour, and still composing for films and theater (the “ Lion King” remake a musical version of “The Devil Wears Prada”). It’s not ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’” also directed in part by Fletcher. But, he said, “I didn’t want to leave any of the sex scenes out, because that’s very important - that’s why we went for an R film.
The depiction of his life as a gay man has - to his dismay - led to the film’s censorship in Russia and Samoa. “I’ve never been a half-measured person, and you can see that got me into a lot of trouble,” John said. The film, directed by Dexter Fletcher and co-produced by David Furnish, John’s husband, is unflinching about John’s rise, his childhood trauma and subsequent addictions. He met Taupin (Jamie Bell onscreen) by chance after both answered an ad in a British music magazine. “I think one of the keys that has driven us all these years, it’s the fact that we never look back,” Taupin said.īut now the world can witness their history, thanks to “ Rocketman,” the musical fantasy that traces John’s transformation from the piano prodigy Reginald Dwight, born in a hamlet outside London, to the over-the-top showman (played by Taron Egerton) with a slew of global hits. Neither is his songwriting partner of more than 50 years, Bernie Taupin, who supplies the lyrics that inspire John’s melodies.
0 kommentar(er)
