Robbie Williams has reflected on his time making new biopic Better Man and said that he compared himself to Eminem in 8 Mile.
The semi-autobiographical film arrived in cinemas over Christmas. Directed and co-written by Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman), it sees the singer depicted as a CGI monkey and tells the story of his life and career, from the early days of childhood to his first taste of success with boyband Take That.
In a new interview following the release, Williams has reflecting on the process of creating the film – particularly his struggle to get the soundtrack right.
According to the singer, he felt like Eminem while working on the project, referring to the rapper’s famous battle to get ‘Lose Yourself’ on the soundtrack for the 2002 film 8 Mile.
“I was sending these songs over that I’m like, ‘That’s a banger. That’s a banger. You are wrong’,” he explained to Collider. “And I’d heard this story about ‘Lose Yourself’ in 8 Mile and how the director had sent that back, and Eminem was right.
“I’m like, ‘I’m Eminem in this moment. That one’s the song, and you are wrong’.”
While it isn’t clear which exact tracks Williams had difficulty getting into the biopic, Williams did explain that he ultimately understood why Gracey landed on the songs that made their way into the final cut of the film.
Reflecting on his thoughts on the finished version of the movie, Williams told the outlet: “I was like, ‘I totally get why those songs weren’t the ones chosen, and I totally get what you need there’. What I was sending wasn’t a cuddle. What I was sending wasn’t soothing. What I was sending wasn’t healing.”
As well as Better Man arriving in cinemas, Williams has also shared a physical and digital version of the film’s soundtrack which includes an inward-looking new single titled ‘Forbidden Road’.
In a three-star review of Better Man, NME wrote: “Better Man begins like a John Lewis ad and swerves into an R-rated hodgepodge that somehow does too much while also barely skimming the surface of Robbie Williams’ career. This is ‘Rudebox’ on film: some of it good, some of it very bad, all of it a bit of a mess. Still, the monkey musical is a big swing that no one else would have taken. You can’t fault the chutzpah or the ambition. If it makes back its reported budget, we’ll eat $110m worth of bananas.”
In other Robbie Williams news, the singer recently revealed to NME that he is working on a new album, which will include collaborations with Glenn Hughes and Black Sabbath‘s Tony Iommi.
Speculation about a new Robbie Williams album has been going on for some time now, with the artist telling fans back in September that a new record was on the way. When the new album arrives, it’ll mark his 13th as a solo artist and his first full-length album since 2019’s ‘The Christmas Present’.
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