The Elton John biopic Rocketman hits screens on May 31 after premiering at Cannes where actor Taron Egerton is rumored to perform alongside Elton John at the film’s debut.
Egerton was profiled this week in The Hollywood Reporter where he talked about preparing for the film by reading Elton’s old diaries at the icon’s estate, and spoke about how the singer’s receding hairline and front gap tooth were recreated.
He talked as well about the gay sex scenes in the film, and playing a gay man.
Said Egerton: “For me, kissing a man onscreen is no less appealing than kissing a woman onscreen. I’m not in any way repulsed by the male form. It’s an uncomfortable thing regardless of who you’re with — it makes no difference as to your sexual preference.”
Added Egerton, of straight actors playing gay roles: “I have spoken to gay people for whom it’s not a problem, and I’ve spoken to gay people for whom it is a problem. I completely understand. But for my part, I’m an actor, and I did not get into acting to just play people like me. You have to draw the line somewhere, and I don’t want to live in a world where straight people play straight people and gay people play gay people.”
In a recent interview with Attitude magazine, Egerton said that he thought he might be gay at one point in his life: “When I was 14 or 15, I had a period of thinking I might be gay and I spoke to my mother about it. 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.”
Egerton also spoke of his sex scenes with actor Richard Madden, who plays his manager John Reid in the film: “I felt Richard’s penis … on my leg. 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.”
