According to a report from The Hollywood Reporter, Elton John, initially, considered Justin Timberlake for the starring role because he thought Timberlake’s performance in “This Train Don’t Stop There Anymore” was particularly engaging. However, his first choice never came to fruition, but not because of Timberlake’s lack of desire.

Regardless, Taron Egerton received critical praise for his portrayal of Elton John in Rocketman. Elton said that pretty much the first person he considered to play himself was the former lead member of the early 2000s pop group – NYSNC – Mr. Timberlake.

As it was previously reported, Justin starred in the aforementioned music video, directed by David LaChapelle, not to be confused with Dave Chappelle. The 2001 video featured Justin and it was around the same time he was slowly moving away from his boy-band, NSYNC.

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John and his husband, David Furnish, the latter of which was also a producer for Rocketman, said to reporters from The Hollywood Reporter that they never had the chance to actually ask Justin Timberlake about starring in the movie.

David said Justin did a tremendous job in the 2001 video. He had a fake nose and his acting work was great as well. Regarding the other actor they considered, Tom Hardy, who starred in the superhero film, Venom, David supposedly had a bit of shade to toss his way.

“Taron Egerton came onboard this film because somebody else dropped out,” the producer said while at the after-party. As it was previously reported, Elton John had to fight tooth-and-nail to have the movie include some of the more R-rated elements.

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Elton wrote an essay for The Guardian in which he explained that his life wasn’t typical of a PG-13 rating, so a movie based on his life couldn’t be the same way. Elton joked in his op-ed that he would like to convince people that he went home alone at nights after performances and read the bible along with a warm glass of milk, but his life simply wasn’t like that.

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