Better Man: Why is Robbie Williams a monkey in this biopic?

Better Man, Michael Grace’s (The Great Showman) biopic about Robbie Williams, hits our theaters this Wednesday. This feature film traces the rise of the famous British singer and songwriter.

Become a star with Boys Band get thisIn the 1990s, Robbie Williams gradually fell into artificial paradise before achieving solo success in 1997 with the song “Angels“.

Whether you’re a fan of Robbie Williams or not, Better Man is a biopic you shouldn’t miss. Without compromise and with great sincerity, the film deals with the dark side of the translator “feel” who himself admits to our microphone that he finds it difficult to immerse himself in certain periods of his life during the shows he attends.

But the peculiarity a better man The main character is a monkey. A bias that surprises us at first glance, but after ten minutes of the film we don’t think about it anymore, because the result is amazing.

Why is Robbie Williams depicted as a monkey?

From the first trailer, Robbie Williams states: He always saw himself differently. So Michael Grace came up with the idea to make a pop star into a monkey.

The director says to our microphone: “I was the one who came up with the idea of ​​depicting Rob as a monkey. Creatively, it was the best approach for me, as was Morgan Neville and Pharrell Williams piece by piece in Lego. We had the same creative ambition: to explore this topic from an original angle.”

He adds: “I think creatively, people are always looking for something new, an original way to approach a subject. As a director, you don’t want to put so much time and energy into a project that people find ‘ordinary’ or ‘ordinary.’ Enthusiasm that makes people engage in it and give it their all.

I hope it inspires other intrepid creators to explore new narrative avenues. That they can say to themselves, “No one would have imagined that a monkey could play Robbie Williams, but they did in Better Man.”

Michael Grace explains: “I spent a year and a half talking to Rob in the recording studio. These notes formed the basis of the first version of the script. If you listen to them, you will see that he describes himself more than once as a learned monkey. That’s where the idea came from.”

A monkey instead of a lion

At the film’s Paris premiere, Robbie Williams added, however, that Michael Gracie asked him which animal he felt closest to, to which the singer answered a lion (he actually has a lion’s head tattooed on his right shoulder). ). But the director insisted, and in the end, Robbie Williams admitted that he considered himself more of a monkey.

An image that reflects both the artist’s perception of his role and the pressure to constantly please. This is not the first time the singer has mentioned this animal in his career since he revealed the title in 2002. “me and my monkey”

This movie will remind people that I exist.

Robbie Williams said during our interview on the subject:We needed a different point of view for this film. We needed people to talk about it. The biopic genre has gone haywire. This is the reason for the monkey. Then again, I’m not very developed either and I’m cocky. Many of my impulses and reactions are primitive and animalistic. So it makes sense.”

When asked about the need for such a biography, the star admits: “This movie will remind people that I exist. People need to be stimulated. I go to dinner parties and sometimes they ask me if I’m still making music. People should be reminded.”

Who is behind the monkey?

And it is the British actor Jono Davies who brings the monkey to life. Michael Gracie called Peter Jackson’s prestigious studio Wētā FX, known for his groundbreaking work on Planet of the Apes and Avatar.

During filming, Jono Davies wore a performance suit and a headset equipped with sensors to record his movements and expressions. Wētā FX combined this with data from Robbie Williams to create a realistic representation.

Due to the COVID pandemic, Robbie Williams was unable to meet Jon Davies before filming. To prepare for the role, the actor watched a lot of videos of the singer, his interviews and clips. He also worked closely with choreographers to reproduce his unique style.

a better man You can see it in the cinema.