The Greatest Showman Director Explains the Monkey in Robbie Wiliams’ Biopic

As music-based biopics have slowly become a well-worn genre, directors have embraced new techniques and measures to shock audiences into theaters to watch their movies. Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman) is doing exactly that with his upcoming biopic, Better Man, focused on British music icon Robbie Williams. So what is Gracey doing that’s so revolutionary? Will Robbie Williams be made entirely of Lego (see Piece by Piece)? Is the musical sort of a musical, but not really a musical (à la Joker: Folie à deux)? Or does he stray away from the true story and tell an epic tale of drug syndicates and Madonna tributes (like Weird: The Al Yankovic Story)? Nope, he turned Robbie Williams into a monkey.

Following the release of the first trailer for Better Man, Robbie Williams and Michael Gracey sat down to discuss the bizarre creative decision. Like a hard-hitting reporter, Williams opened the featurette with the question on everyone’s minds, “So, the monkey… What gives?” The “artistic” decision came from an early conversation between Williams and Gracey about how the music icon perceives himself. Gracey explained:

“I asked you if you were an animal, how would you see yourself? In your own words you would refer to being dragged up on stage to perform like a monkey. I immediately thought portraying you not as we see you, but as how you see yourself. It immediately clicked in a way that I was like, with your voice and that monkey, I am gonna see you and relate to you in a way that is going to be more engaging than yet another musical biopic.”

Representing Robbie Williams as a monkey brings with it a whole host of logistical questions. Does this all play out in Robbie Williams’ mind? Does everyone else see him as a monkey? And, if they do, why has no one asked, “Robbie, what the hell happened? Why are you a monkey?!” Williams lends his voice to the ape, with Jonno Davies providing motion capture. Alongside Williams and Davis, Better Man also stars Damon Herriman, Steve Pemberton, Alison Steadman, Kate Mulvany, Anthony Hayes, and Tom Budge.

The Internate Goes Ape Sh*t Over Robbie Williams As a CGI Monkey

Within seconds of Better Man’s trailer being released online, the internet lost its mind about Robbie Williams’ ape-like counterpart. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, local town notice boards, fax machines, and even MySpace (if it’s still around) blew up with reactions and comments about Michael Gracey’s bizarre and eccentric decision. Some, like @bartonreviews were supportive of the film, writing “It’s a film about Robbie Williams with Williams replaced by a CGI monkey… I’m all in.” Others took the opportunity to crack wise and make jokes in stride, posting their own hilarious opinions about the movie. Check out a selection of Tweets below:

Better Man arrives in select US theaters on December 25 — does that make it a Christmas monkey movie? Take that, Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas. The movie will then get a wider theatrical release on January 17. The biopic has already hit the film festival circuit and, as well as confusing critics as much as audiences were with the first trailer, the film managed to rack up more than solid reviews. Better Man currently sits at 86% on Rotten Tomatoes.

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