The Red Bulletin June 2019

TARON
EGERTON
The Dwight
Stuff
Words RÜDIGER STURM
and JULIA ZIMANOFSKY
In his new film, Egerton relates the story of another
man balancing his artistic career with life in the
spotlight. Rocketman sees him play a young Reginald
Dwight – who became better known as Elton John
– as he wrestles with the trials and tribulations of
fame and fortune. “I have a comparatively very
meagre experience,” Egerton says. “I’m an actor from
Wales who has been in five or six films. He is Elton
John.” Here, the 29-year-old talks about portraying
a living legend and how he got to know the real man
behind the performance…
He’s playing one of the world’s
most celebrated icons, but the
actor is all too aware of the
dangers of fame and fortune
Taron Egerton has been on the verge of superstardom
for a few years now. The British actor’s breakthrough
moment came in 2014, when he starred in the bigscreen
spy comedy Kingsman: The Secret Service, a role
that looked as if it would catapult him into squarejawed
leading-man territory. The film franchise
instantly made him a household name, a situation
he found challenging. “You become the focus of
attention,” says Egerton, who was born in Birkenhead,
near Liverpool, but grew up on the island of Anglesey
in north Wales. “It requires you to simultaneously
be very vulnerable and emotionally exposed, but
also incredibly robust and thick-skinned.”
the red bulletin: How old were you when
you first became aware of Elton John?
taron egerton: He’s been ever-present throughout
my life, and I’ve been a fan of his music since I was
very young. I was 12 when his Greatest Hits album
came out in 2002, and my stepdad and I used to sing
along to I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues
while driving to school. Then I sang Your Song to
get into drama school when I was 17. He was my
audition piece and now I’m playing him.
How did you go about creating your character
for this film?
This idea of becoming someone else, like, “He
became so-and-so, he was channelling so-and-so”…
you can’t fucking channel someone. I’m an actor and
I created a character with elements that are hopefully
informed by the real person. My performance, while
acknowledging the extremes of Elton’s character and
not hiding the fact he has had difficulties, is also just
my interpretation of him – and my interpretation is
GAVIN BOND
28 THE RED BULLETIN