In a cover interview with UK LGBT
glossy Attitude, Taron Egerton says he's proud to play Elton
John in the upcoming biopic Rocketman.
Rocketman, which arrives in the
United States late next month, looks at the early life of the iconic
singer-songwriter.
The 29-year-old Egerton said that he
wouldn't have played John if the film did not explore his
relationship with manager John Reid (played by Richard Madden) and
his drink and drug addiction.
“I would not have played this
character if: one, I wasn’t allowed to show Elton being a
nightmare, because he has been; two, if we weren’t able to explore
his drink-and-drug addiction because I don’t think you can tell a
story without it; and three, if I didn’t think we could make a film
that the gay community would watch and feel a sense of ownership
over,” Egerton
said.
"What right do I have to play
Elton John if I am not going to go the same lengths to portray a gay
relationship as a gay actor would?”
(Related: First
look: Taron Egerton as Elton John in biopic Rocketman.)
Egerton also weighed in on the debate
about whether gay characters should be portrayed by openly gay
actors.
"It's easy for me to sit here as a
white heterosexual man and say I should be able to play a part I
want, but I completely understand why a gay actor would feel that
this is an opportunity for which they would be better suited,” he
said. "The way I feel about it is that Elton asked me to play in
a movie about his life. I am proud and privileged to be playing this
person who happens to be gay. And I want to live in a world where
people are excited about playing people who are different from
themselves, and I believe that there is something inclusive and
progressive about that."
Rocketman opens on May 31.