elton john 2019
[Photo via Spotify]

Elton John pushed for realism in biopic: “I haven't led a PG-13 life”

Ahead of his upcoming big-screen biopic, Elton John has been in the spotlight, whether it be Oscar party performances, interviews or otherwise.

With the film set to release in a few short days, John shared his thoughts on the film in an essay for the Guardian, discussing what seeing his life on the big screen feels like and what fans should expect.

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One of the most interesting portions of John’s words, though, was his thoughts on the explicit content from his life that the film contains.

John mentions the desire of some studios to tone down the more hardcore moments in order to avoid an R rating, but didn’t agree with straying from what truly happened.

“I just haven’t led a PG-13 rated life,” John says. “I didn’t want a film packed with drugs and sex, but equally, everyone knows I had quite a lot of both during the 70s and 80s, so there didn’t seem to be much point in making a movie that implied that after every gig, I’d quietly gone back to my hotel room with only a glass of warm milk and the Gideon’s Bible for company.”

Rocketman won’t be your everyday autobiography, according to John. The film incorporates elements of fiction and dreamlike scenes. These scenes obviously didn’t happen as portrayed, but they attempt to encapsulate how John felt during those times.

“Some studios wanted us to lose the fantasy element and make a more straightforward biopic, but that was missing the point,” John says. “Like I said, I lived in my own head a lot as a kid. And when my career took off, it took off in such a way that it almost didn’t seem real to me.”

“There’s a moment in Rocketman when I’m playing onstage in the Troubadour club in LA and everything in the room starts levitating, me included, and honestly, that’s what it felt like,” he continues.

Despite the high-profile life John has lived, he says it’s still strange to see other people play out your life onscreen.

“The whole experience of watching someone else pretend to be you on screen, of seeing things you remember happening again in front of your eyes, is a very weird, disconcerting one, like having an incredibly vivid dream,” he says.

Rocketman hits theaters May 31. Check out the trailer below.

What do you think of Elton John’s view on the film? Sound off in the comments below!

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