The 'Kingsman: The Secret Service' star claims that the explicit scene is 'an important part of the story,' as it pushes the boundaries.
- Apr 3, 2019
AceShowbiz - Taron Egerton has insisted the sex scenes in Elton John biopic "Rocketman" "push the envelope."
The Welsh actor and "Bodyguard" star Richard Madden, who plays Elton's lover and manager John Reid, made headlines when it was reported that Paramount Pictures bosses allegedly demanded one raunchy sequence, which reportedly shows Elton and Reid "writhing on a bed" with fully exposed "derrieres" on display, be dropped from Dexter Fletcher's movie.
Speaking to British GQ magazine, the "Kingsman: The Secret Service" star insisted that the scenes do push the boundaries, but they are necessary to accurately portray Elton's life as a gay man.
"Well, the stuff we shot was pretty explicit," the 29-year-old said. "I mean, that's why I made the film. Those scenes are desperately important when you have an icon of that magnitude, who means so much to one community.
"(Elton) has been such a standard bearer. And for me, especially as a heterosexual actor, not to push the envelope as far as I can or try to make it a wholehearted celebration of being a gay man would be wrong."
Queen biopic "Bohemian Rhapsody", which was directed by Fletcher after Bryan Singer was fired in December 2017, was criticised for toning down Freddie Mercury's homosexuality. And according to editors at the Daily Mail, studio bosses are keen for "Rocketman" to get a PG-13 rating, which is equivalent to a 12A rating in the U.K, and emulate that movie's huge success.
However, Taron made it clear to GQ that he was more concerned about telling Elton's story truthfully than box office takings.
"It's a studio movie. It's Elton John. We've got to own that. I don't care how well the film does in Russia. It doesn't matter. It can't matter... What's an extra $25 million at the box office? What are you willing to do for that? Sacrifice sleeping at night because you watered the whole thing down?" he continued, adding that the sex isn't "gratuitous," but Elton losing his virginity to Reid "is an important part of the story."
