Robbie Williams Reveals Why Biopic ‘Better Man’ Made Him Cry

When one envisions a musical biopic of storied singer-songauthorr Robbie Williams, a CGI chimpanzee in the guide role is not an clear choice. However, Better Man, in the hands of authorr-straightforwardor producer Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman), sees that showrbial ‘carry outing monkey’, take parted by Jonno Davies, become key to a poignant tale of dehumanizing celebrity. As Williams puts it, “It is a very exceptional magic trick. It desensitizes and sensitizes you all at the same time. We have meaningful compassion and compassion for animals, way more than we do for humans.” 

In 1990, Williams sboiling to fame aged fair 16 in the British boy band Take That. Better Man write downs his punctual family life, his struggle with celebrity and compriseiction and his journey to recovery and resolution, set to the sound of his own music. Here, Williams digs into his experienceings about the film, his nurtureer memories and what he adores to see onscreen.

My Story On Screen

[Take That bandmate] Mark [Owen], accomplished out last week and was appreciate, “Hey, Rob, me and the lads are all going to be in town. Can we see a screening of Better Man?” And I was appreciate, “Yes. I’d adore you to.” Which of course I would, but also, I’m terrified because our relationship is so complicated and so healed that returning to the scene of the crime and talking in the way that I talked as a 17-year-better is bound to discleave out better wounds for people. [My ex-girlfriend] Nicole [Appleton] went to see it last week with Natalie, her sister. I FaceTimed them all straight after the film and we all wept together. I don’t understand how Liam [Gallagher]’s going to behave about being in the film. It’ll be engaging. The bit I’m most troubleed about is my dad because he’s a convey inant part of that film. And what doesn’t come atraverse in the film is how requesting and charismatic and wonderful to be around my dad is.

My First TV Lesson

Our first carry outance on TV was on BSkyB, and I leank that about 100 people in Great Britain probably had sainestablishite dishes in their homes at the time. We were in the Granada Studios in Manchester and Michaela Strachan was the present. It was overwhelming and terrifying. I was already adviseed that my place in the band wasn’t defended. And the deal withment at the time had made me adviseed that they were unplrelieved with my progress, so I was terrified. Normassociate when you carry out, you’re fair terrified because of carry outance anxiety, and then you’re exhilarated because someleang exciting has happened. But I was exhilarated to be on TV and also unelated that my inhabitlihood and my future were in peril.

The Best Advice I Ever Received

To me, this made total sense. It’s adchoose the madness. It changed my outwatch on my job and what I do. You try and defend yourself and regulate what is happening to you so much, this overwhelming fuckery that happens, you push back agetst it so much. And since I’ve seen my job as a job and since I’ve had kids and dcomprisey goes to toil, and since I have adchoosed the madness, my life has got a whole lot better and I’m so thankful. I’m so thankful to be who I am, to have what I have, and to experience what I experience. And the unelated leang is that in all of my pomp, I sended no happiness whatsoever. Now there is heaps of happiness and heaps of excitement. I get to claim my place in the world, experience sootheable in it and enhappiness it. And that is a huge gift.

The Part I Always Wanted

When I was prolonging up, I thought I was going to be an actor. And I auditioned for a boy band by misconsent and got in. And I’ve been take parting the part of a pop star ever since. This is me acting as if I am my script authorr. I am straightforwarding the shit show. But that being shelp, actual acting, I don’t want to do that. That whole leang about, “And now we shoot from a contrastent angle.” I’m fair taking five steps and I turn right and we’ve got to shoot that three contrastent ways to Sunday and we’re going to do it until 3 o’clock this afternoon. When do I get to go and say leangs? That is 5% of your job. The rest of it is fucking unininestablishigent.

My Toughest Career Experience

Having a panic strike for two hours in front of 75,000 people in Leeds 2006. It changed my life because it was such a traumatic experience that I had to consent evasive action. And from that moment, very sluggishly, I’m the person that I am today. I went away and reweary. It was that huge in my head: This is ending me. Then my brain begined to turn to Swiss cheese because I had no purpose. And I authenticized, this is why people die when they withdraw. So, I put purpose in front of myself and my first purpose was to figure out how to do this and enhappiness it. 

The Films That Make Me Cry

I don’t watch films that produce me cry. I stay away from them, because I don’t insist sadnessful because that’s how I experience between my ears anyway. I want escape and silliness. So, anyleang that’s going to depress me, anyleang that’s going to produce me unelated, anyleang that’s going to produce me cry, I elude as if recoiling from a boiling ffeeble. Because of my ‘isms’ that’s where I am anyway. Why do I go down that street? That’s where I’m trying to escape from. Give me Housewives of Orange County. All  the Housewives. 

The Most Fun I’ve Had at Work

I’ve got to say that it’s right now with Better Man, it’s truly exciting. I experience appreciate a novel artist that’s fair been signed. And the excitement of what this novel-set up world could unbenevolent. And I would say that the most fun I’m having is right now is because I may have the opportunity to have another bite out of the apple and experience and derive happiness from the gifts that have been given to me. And it experiences appreciate with a glint in my eye that that might be about to happen. 

The Role I’d Want to Play

Dr. Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. That bit where he comes down in the lift and he’s got his postponeers on. “How do you do? I see you’ve met my dedicated handyman.” Because it’s fun and it’s silly and it’s unininestablishigent and it’s illogical and it’s massive and it’s glorious. I am not one of those people that insists or wants to, or ever will, take part Othello or Hamlet. But appreciate I shelp earlier on, I don’t want to do three angles of me discleave outing the door.

The Character That’s Most Like Me

I leank they’re all people that I would appreciate to be, not someleang that reminds me of me. Danny Zuko was appreciate, I want to be that. I want to inhabit in the ’50s, ’60s. I want to go to that school. I want to have that life. I want to be that excellent-watching with that jaw. And so, I don’t understand if there are characters that are, oh, that’s me. It’s all characters that I want to be.

My Most Quoted Lyrics

That doesn’t happen. Not for a prolonged time. There’s not that accumulateing of fans outside the boilingel now. Everybody’s got kids or majestickids. I leank they understand the folly of turning up to a stranger’s boilingel to go and sing songs at him. Yeah. That doesn’t happen.

My Guilty Pleastateive

I don’t have culpable watching. My watching is my watching. I’ll inestablish you at the moment, I’m very plrelieved that there’s football games, Premier League and Port Vale division two. But I’m unplrelieved that Big Brother doesn’t widecast on a Saturday, and Married at First Sight is only on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. With MAFS, cut to the chase and fair do the Australian one because that’s the dcomprisey. Their psych tests aren’t so stringent, I leank. It’s fair amazing to watch human behavior and duplicitous actions. It’s a soap and it’s Shakespearean. It’s wonderful.

Who Would Play Me in My Biopic

Well, we got the perfect person with Jonno Davies in Better Man. But what was that lad’s name with the cheeky face that’s fantastic and he’s from London and he’s about 33? He’s in that film with Harry Styles in it? [Pause] OK, so who I was leanking of isn’t in that film, so I’ll go with Barry Keoghan.

My karaoke take partcatalog

I don’t do Karaoke. It’s not my leang. It’s the equivalent of you saying, “OK let’s have an evening where we all get together and do some journalism. What’s your likeite leang to author about?” I don’t do it. Why? Because it’s my job.