Taron Egerton opens up about filming Rocketman‘s steamier scenes.
The upcoming biopic Rocketman promises to be an epic musical extravaganza about Sir Elton John‘s life through his formative years. Starring Taron Egerton, Jamie Bell, Richard Madden, and Bryce Dallas Howard, Rocketman promises to stay faithful to the legend’s life both in an out of the public eye.
In a recent interview, Egerton, who plays John in the film, revealed some fascinating details about the film’s steamier moments. He even opened up about filming Rocketman‘s love scenes with his co-star, Richard Madden (Bodyguard, Games of Thrones). In the film, Madden portrays John’s first manager, John Reid, who also happened to be his lover.
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“I felt Richard’s p***s … on my leg,” he told Attitude. “We shot a scene where we are both naked on a bed, and we are rolling around. I don’t really know how much further we could have gone.”
“In the script, this is the scene of Elton losing his virginity, and we wanted to try to do that justice, and also at that point, their relationship hasn’t broken down yet,” Egerton explained. “They were falling in love, and it’s beautiful because it should be. We didn’t want to play like they were a couple who were eventually going to fall apart, we wanted to play it like two guys in their early twenties who are falling in love and who are incredibly sexually attracted to each other.”
“At 14 or 15, I had a period of thinking I might be #gay.” – @TaronEgerton via @AttitudeMag pic.twitter.com/1rxd0w1x23
— Gayety (@gayety) April 26, 2019
In the same interview, Egerton also opened up about discovering his sexuality saying, “When I was 14 or 15, I had a period of thinking I might be gay and I spoke to my mother about it.” He continued, “It was part of a period in my life where my mind was figuring things out. You question everything, there are hormones … It was a very real feeling to me, and I was very panicked and upset about how I would be perceived.”
“That is not the same as going through it for real but there is some understanding of what it might be like, and I remember feeling that acutely.”
The star confirmed that he identifies as straight early this year.
Related | Taron Egerton Wants You to See Rocketman Uncensored
Back in March, The Daily Mail reported that Paramount Pictures executives were allegedly “forcing” director Dexter Fletcher and executive producer Matthew Vaughn to cut a 40-second scene depicting Egerton and Madden embracing in the buff. Many speculated that the edit was requested to ensure the film avoided an R rating from the MPAA.
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Some fans took to social media to express their concern. Fletcher replaced controversial director Bryan Singer on the Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, which was scrutinized for straight-washing queer content.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Rocketman is expected to be R-rated. However, its “intimate love scene” remains in the theatrical version of the film. A source is quoted as verifying “discussions” among the filmmakers and studio about the sequence, which contains “the F-word several times and includes brief rear nudity, and someone snorting cocaine.”
Egerton told MTV in November, “I filmed my first sex scene for this film, and it’s with quite a well-known man. I do feel the movie we shot is absolutely a celebration of everything that Elton John is, and part of that is his sexuality.”
Rocketman hits theaters May 31.
