An Elton John song helped land Taron Egerton a place in drama school, and now he gets to play the music legend in a new biopic.
Talking about how his career has come “full circle”, Welsh actor Taron explained to British newspaper Metro that he was an Elton fan long before he was cast as the I’m Still Standing star in Dexter Fletcher’s Rocketman.
“I’m from a family of music lovers,” he smiled. “My stepfather and I used to listen to Elton John every day in the car. I sang Your Song to get into drama school. It’s a weird full circle thing.”
And the pair even crossed paths when Elton landed a cameo in Taron’s 2017 movie Kingsman: The Golden Circle.
Rocketman won’t be the first time the 29-year-old has shown off his vocal abilities; he belted out songs on animated movie Sing.
And he worked with his Sing teacher at London’s famous Abbey Road Studios to make sure his voice was up to scratch for his latest project.
“That’s one of those things. It’s not like, ‘Now I’m a singer.’ You’re always working on it. Like pianists… they do it every day. You never arrive,” he explained.
Before Rocketman hits screens in May (19), Taron can be seen as Robin Hood in Otto Bathurst’s retelling of the heroic outlaw.
“Kevin Costner’s Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves is one my favourite films from when I was a kid and I love it but it has a Robin Hoodiness to it!” he enthused. “That’s lovely and it’s a movie I watch every few years because it’s nostalgic. But I wanted to make something with a bit more of a modern feeling.”
Robin Hood began hitting cinemas on Wednesday (21Nov18).
