Robbie Williams' big movie plans after Better Man success
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Robbie Williams wants to ape his role in Better Man, by being turned into a chimp again for a sequel. The Take That star, 50, says he has so much content that another film could be on the cards. Robbie told: “There is so much that didn’t make the movie. Only because we couldn’t fit it in – not because I was too embarrassed or ashamed to put it in... many stories. It would have had to be a five-hour film to fit everything in. And hopefully it does good and there is a Better Man 2." Better Man has taken £10million globally, although mostly in the UK.
It did not make a big splash on its first weekend in the US, up against Hollywood heavyweights such as Gladiator II and Wicked, but it scored 88% on Rotten Tomatoes with critics and 94% with audiences. Its number Forbidden Road was nominated for the Golden Globe’s best song.
Initially Robbie did not want a CGI chimp to be the lead in the biopic. He told Aussie DJ Sean Brown: “I am an actor. I’ve acted at being a pop star for the last 30-plus years. It is what I do.”. The biopic is about Stoke-born Robbie’s life until 2003 – the year he played three huge gigs at Knebworth to annoy Oasis, who only did two. Director Michael Gracey, who made The Greatest Showman, said a CGI chimp depicts Robbie because he always “felt like a performing monkey”.
The film also shows Robbie’s dark days of drug use and mental health battle. Robbie says his daughter Teddy, 12, "sneaked in" to a screening of the biopic - but it hasn't put her off going into showbiz. He said: "She's the child that wants to be famous the most - way more than I did. It's terrifying. I tried to explain to her, 'It doesn't fix you'. But she won't listen to me, of course. After the film, she was like, 'Daddy, can I walk around the garden with you?' And she held my hand and said, 'I get it'.".
