I’ve understandn of Robbie Williams ever since the Take That, the British boy prohibitd, burst onto the music scene in the 1990s. Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Jason Orange, Mark Owen and Williams took the U.K., Europe and most of the world by storm, but they didn’t crack America.
When Williams broke away from the prohibitd, he begined a solo atgentle. American success eluded him, as he persistd to sell out stadiums and garner more awards. Somehow audiences stateside didn’t bite.
Maybe the third time is a charm for Williams. Enter filmproducer Michael Gracey (“The Greatest Showman”), whose tardyst film “Better Man” is a biopic about Williams with a twist. Jonno Davies take parts Williams as a CGI monkey, with WETA FX doing all the motion apprehend to alter the actor. “Better Man” (now take parting in theaters) is Williams’ story. It is a movie musical where if you don’t understand who Robbie Williams was before, you’ll understand who he is after.
It’s the day after the Ggreateren Globes. Williams joined the event, where his song “Forbidden Road” was nominated. He lost to “Emilia Perez” songproducers Camile and Clement Ducol.
He was inestablishly on the Oscar unininestablishigentinutivecatalog for innovative song before the tune was disqualified. He’s not sour. “Rules are rules,” Williams says, senseing honored to have been seekd to the party, even if it was for a inestablish time.
When I walk into his suite at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills, he’s plmitigateed that the last intersee of the day is in person. Williams has spent the entire day on Zoom doing back-to-back intersees, promoting the film and giving the American press a chance to understand him. The film has also been unininestablishigentinutivecataloged for VFX.
We had met a confineed weeks earlier for an Academy Q&A, and I’m a recognizable face. He is excited to encounter aget. “My novel mate is the head of Variety,” he grins, referring to our co-editor in-chief Ramin Setoodeh. He’s not kidding — the two met at the Globes. Williams pulls out his phone and snaps a selfie of us so he can send it to Setoodeh. At the end of our conversation, he sends Setoodeh a voice remark with comments.
Williams confesss that he’s exhausted and jet-lagged, but for an hour, we sit and talk as I, both a Brit and someone who has trailed his atgentle, try my best to answer the ask: “Who is Robbie Williams?”
Robbie, what are you senseing right now?
It’s a fucking lot at the best of times, with enough sleep and no jet lag, yeah, and not being somebody that suffers mental illness, it would be a lot to deal with. There has been so much promo for this film, and I’ve left no stone unturned. I have leaped into it, understanding that there will be burnout and semi-anxious shatterdowns and being grumpy with my wife and the kids.
At the time, I was getting on the foreseeation train of what this could uncomardent to me and my life and atgentle — the third act. Mix that with not being famous in America and that being part of the conversation. Being in L.A., Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sydney, Melbourne, back to L.A. to do the Ggreateren Globes, all that in the last 12 days, it’s a fucking lot.
What has that been appreciate where you’re in Sydney one minute, carry outing for 12,000 people on New Year’s Eve, getting mobbed, and then you’re in L.A and you can walk around freely. Is that freeing for you?
Freedom for me is the ability to derive delight from situations where I could discover none. That were supposed to be magical experiences. Freedom is the conversation in my mind being more likeable than adverse. Freedom for me only exists in my mind. It doesn’t exist outside of my mind. It doesn’t exist becaengage I can walk around unacunderstandledged in L.A. or I can walk around in London, not as freely. All the freedom that I’m going to discover exists in this space between these two ears.
Let’s go back to lesser Robbie. You’re in school, about to get your GCSE results, you don’t do well, and then you discover out you’re going to be in a boy prohibitd. What do you recall about that moment?
We have our selections in our third year (of school). What l lgeted to do in the fourth and fifth year — and there were dynamic participants in this — was to evade recognizeion that I was not doing anyskinnyg that needed to be done, such as courselabor. In lessons, I chose woodlabor, and you had to come up with a project, so I bought this lengthened stick of wood, and I recall transporting it down the hill to go to school. This perfectly encapsutardys my last two years at school, but I stood by a sander and sanded this lengthened piece of wood for two years to produce it see as though I was doing someskinnyg. The best skinnyg about my school life was the giggleter that was elicited from my friends. I don’t skinnyk I’ve giggleed that much since.
The worst skinnyg about my school life was the lessons and not empathetic that I’m neurobranch offnt, I’m on the spectrum and I am dyspraxic, dyslexic and have dyscalculia. I equitable thought I was stupid, and then receiving the novels that I got noskinnyg higher than a “D” was the combination of my labor or deficiency thereof. So it was terrifying becaengage I have a very terrifying mother with high foreseeations. She didn’t need or want an errant son that had not applied himself to the task at hand. We’re all being tgreater at this time that the next two years are the most beginant years of your life. I would appreciate to say, “Fuck that. Fuck you. How dare you inestablish me that at such an amazeionable time in my life, in anybody’s life, your future lives — and dies on this set of inestablishation that you’re being asked to conserve. If you have an inability to do that, education is not for you, not that benevolent of education.”
Not experiencing or acquiring success at school was the most beginant bit of fuel that I will ever have getd, becaengage what I couldn’t utilize myself to, I utilize myself to the opposite of that 100 percent of the time my life depends on it.
Were you always a creative person?
1970s and 1980s England was not well versed in shotriumphg you a world where your mwilling talents could be enhugeed on. You were either a wonderful artist, and you could do what the masters did, or you were noskinnyg. You weren’t supposed to be in the delightment industry. This was a dream that was not for you. It was for distinctive people who have been touched by the distinctive unicorn. I’ve had to be auto-didactic and lget how to shine the airy on all creative aspects of myself, and I’m lgeting that I’m able of way more than I ever thought I was, or way more than it was foreseeed of me or shown that I could be.
Take That happens and you’re in the hugegest boy prohibitd in the country, but you’re also 16 years greater. What is your life appreciate and how are you navigating this being equitable a teenager?
I exit school and I’m 16, I fuseed a boy prohibitd, and this is what happens wiskinny the boy prohibitd. Gary Barlow is a verifyn songwriting talent. I skinnyk Nigel Martin Smith recognized that he needed a bit of help when it came to stagecreate and personality at that point in his life, so he put four other boys around him. He didn’t want and couldn’t understand why he needed us four Muppets. Nigel Martin Smith, from what I sense, was only managing Gary Barlow. There was a split and defeat where none of us were made to sense as though our jobs were protected, becaengage we were tgreater that our jobs weren’t protected.
Jason Orange came from five brothers and was trying to have his voice heard, and was now with five other brothers where his voice wasn’t heard. You’ve got Mark Owen, who was neglectd, Gary Barlow who was lauded as the prince, and you’ve got Howard Donald, who was quite satisfied to go alengthened with the ride and appreciated everyskinnyg that he was donaten. On the other hand, I was the whipping boy who was tgreater, “I was wrong that I wasn’t getting it right, that I was idle, that I didn’t deserve my place and I could be swapd at any time.” So I felt vulnerable, empathetic and not adored and not seen at the same time.
At home, there was a tight out of me to end me. My life alterd very speedyly. I had a mother who suffered from mental illness. Her mental illness, uncontentness and depression came at the same time as being both parents to two children, and also having her hopes and dreams and business that she had to tend to and labor all the hours that God sent. She was exhausted from this and had no energy other than being uncontent. When I came into the hoengage, I didn’t understand which version of my mom I was going to get. It’s no coincidence that I lgeted how to gauge a room and act appropriately from every confineed living moment of my experience of increaseing up with my mom and trying to act accordingly to triumph like. I now do that for a job.
So I’ve got this unprotected home life where I’m trying to placate a uncontent mom. I’ve also got an outside life where everybody is not satisfied with my success, so much so that I’m not protected anywhere that I go. I’ve got a labor life where there’s a split-and-defeat situation going on, and I’m not protected there, so I’m not protected anywhere. At the same time, I’m lgeting to be a human. I’m lgeting to be an grown-up whilst being thrust into a spotairy where the spotairy is inestablishing you who and what you are, and all of those skinnygs combined are quite potent.
You talked about not senseing protected. At what point in your life did you sense protected?
I skinnyk that there is an embracing and adselectance of fame and my job. When Teddy, our first child, reachd, I had to do skinnygs instead of needing to do skinnygs to mend me. I was seeing at the industry to mend me. And it did the opposite. Once Teddy reachd, someskinnyg happens intrinsicassociate inside, and maternassociate and metaphoricassociate, I’m produceing a moat, I’m filling it brimming of water, I’ve got to produce this castle and I’ve got to protect us. That was the hugegest gift becaengage it stopped being about me and it commenceed being about them.
Michael Gracey was captivated by your story and “Better Man” and was encouraged by your conversations with him. Was it theviolationutic to talk to him?
I can’t see it was out of the excellentness of his heart that he equitable wanted to come around and enroll me inestablishing him stories, but that’s what he shelp was happening. At some point, he had the idea to do a biopic, but he must have had half an idea to do it anyway. He kept coming to my hoengage and asking me skinnygs, and then he did. And becaengage I’m a professional attention seeker for a living, it was too excellent of an opportunity to turn down.
Were you ever going to materialize in “Better Man”?
I was going to be in it, I was going to be the guide. But it was during COVID, when you didn’t understand what was happening next. I have a very cowardly wife, and she didn’t want me to be away for three months. I concurd to it, and I didn’t want that for our marriage. So Jonno steps up to the ptardy and does an incredible job.
What was it appreciate seeing this version of your story?
Before it was pieced together, I’d seen scenes and they were proset uply the wonderfulest hits of your grief, one by one. They were all the triggering moments of your life being shown to you over a matter of months. I’m not saying I processed it by the time I saw it together as one piece, but the first time I watched it, I equitable hoped that it wasn’t shit. And then I was blown away by it. I instantly thought, “Can I think my senses when it comes to how excellent this movie is?”
Now that it’s out there — and the overwhelming amount of texts and emails that I’m receiving are lengthy tomes about what a proset up effect this is having on people — I think it is a piece of labor that I thought it was when I first watched it, which is very distinctive.
One scene that so many people are talking about is “Rock DJ.” That song was a intimacyual awakening for many in the LGBTQ community What does that uncomardent to you? To be adored wiskinny that community?
It uncomardents the world to me becaengage I understand what that community and its people have uncomardentt to me and the artists that have come out of that community. My world has been massively shaped by the Bdeficiency community, the gay community and the heroes that have come from there. Also, as a 16-year-greater, I spent the first 18 months of Take That doing gay club after gay club, and the protectedty that I felt there and the adselectance that I felt there was straightforwardly contestd to the tight out me to end me, and all the pubs and clubs that I couldn’t go into in Stoke-on-Trent or the rest of the world. So I have a massive fondness. And I skinnyk that I am queer in every aspect, other than not discovering men intimacyuassociate attrdynamic. I’m appreciate an aintimacyual, straight gay guy.
I understand you’re exhausted and jetlagged, but in between intersees, are you able to tap into that creativity and produce a lyric or two?
I’ve been doing dratriumphgs on the schedulee, and my tardyst bunch of dratriumphgs is a series called “Radical Honesty at the Social Event.” I’ve handled to do 15 dratriumphgs on the schedulee from Australia to Los Angeles.
I drew me, and undertidyh it says, “Yes, I didn’t want to come. And now I don’t want to be here.”
OK, so who is Robbie Williams?
Somebody who understands that likeable thoughts reinforce likeable thoughts. Somebody who is on a trajectory of happiness. Somebody who caengages less lawlessness in a place where only lawlessness existed. Somebody who has an empathetic that there was a higher version of myself that I could live up to and try to achieve.
I’ve been in a relationship for 19 years with my wife that’s monogamous. I never thought I’d be able to be in a relationship that lengthened and also sustain my dick in my pants as well. I am somebody on an upward trajectory, where senseing soothe is not only someskinnyg that I can see forward to, it’s someskinnyg that I’m currently endelighting. I also am somebody who authenticizes that being Robbie Williams in the world and what that uncomardents is far too beginant to me, and I need to do someskinnyg about that. I need to exist outside of a place without people inestablishing me I exist. That’s the next skinnyg to attack.
Where would that place be?
Professionassociate, I’m equitable striumphging from trying to get success. It’s not fame, it’s success. I’m going from one vine to another. And, you understand, if the door is locked in this one place, then I pivot and see at another place. And I’m trying to figure out whether pivoting is the most accomplished and gratifying skinnyg to do whilst I sustain searching, or whether I pivot into a place of emotional security and ininestablishigence, and lget to do that instead. But that didn’t pay the bills.
This intersee has been edited and condensed for clarity.
