"That's a Banger": Robbie Williams Tried To Be Eminem for 'Better Man,' but Learned His Lesson [Exclusive]

 

By

Chris McPherson

Published 13 hours ago

 

Sometimes when you're making a film, particularly one about your own life, it's just as big a challenge to figure out what shouldn't be in the movie as much as what should, and that's exactly what happened for the entertaining and bombastic new movie, Better Man. In an exclusive interview with Collider's Perri Nemiroff for Collider Forces, pop legend Robbie Williams opened up about his creative process for Better Man, the musical biopic chronicling his life, and revealed a fascinating behind-the-scenes story about his approach to the film’s soundtrack. As it turns out, even global superstars like Williams sometimes need a reality check.

 

Better Man chronicles the life of Williams, who has been a pop idol and icon in the United Kingdom for around 30 years now. It follows his early days as a member of the boyband Take That to his rise as a solo superstar, and also explores the darker aspects of Williams’ life, including his struggles with mental health, addiction, and fame. Oh, and he's also portrayed as a CGI chimpanzee in the movie.

 

Discussing his involvement in shaping the music for the film, Williams shared that he initially pushed for certain songs to be included — only to later realise they didn’t fit the tone of the movie. Williams recalled making the mistake, referencing his work putting together the soundtrack with director Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman). He told Collider:

 

"I was sending these songs over that I’m like, ‘That’s a banger. That’s a banger. You are wrong,’. And I’d heard this story about ‘Lose Yourself’ in 8 Mile and how the director had sent that back, and Eminem was right. And I’m like, ‘I’m Eminem in this moment. That one’s the song, and you are wrong.’"

 

However, as Williams eventually discovered, Gracey’s vision for Better Man required a more delicate touch. "Then I saw the finished version, and 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," he admitted.

 

Williams ultimately found the right musical balance with the help of songwriter and producer Freddy Wexler. Reflecting on the collaboration, Williams expressed gratitude for the learning experience, saying, "Then we delivered, thank God. Me and a wonderful songwriter and producer called Freddy Wexler. Incredibly talented. Namaste. Love him."

 

https://collider.com/robbie-williams-better-man-eminem/

This is an interesting review with some more personal opinion and emotions.

 

 

'Better Man is a fun movie, but I must discuss the elephant (aka monkey) in the room.'

 

Tara Watson

Senior Entertainment Producer

January 2, 2025

 

Robbie Williams is doing all he can to be a Better Man right now.

 

The iconic singer is seemingly everywhere promoting his new film… just not in the US, as Americans, quite famously, don't have a clue who he is.

 

The biographical musical is directed by The Greatest Showman's Michael Gracey, and tells the story of the British pop star.

 

The narrative follows Williams from his working-class childhood through his rise with the boy band Take That, his breakout solo success, gruelling world tour schedules and experiences with addiction.

 

The film weaves Williams' hit songs into his life story, exploring his complex relationship with his father Peter and lifelong battles with self-doubt and mental health.

 

Filmed mostly in Melbourne, the cast features Australian actors Kate Mulvany and Damon Herriman, alongside British talent, Steve Pemberton and Alison Steadman.

 

But most importantly: Williams is not portrayed by some rising star. He is a chimpanzee, naturally!

 

Weirdly… it works for the most part. Like, I was aware that the character had the face of a chimpanzee, but he was also cheeky, charming and charismatic — like Williams.

 

And I never expected a biopic featuring a CGI monkey as its leading man would be so emotionally resonant.

 

Did I cry? Many times!

 

Robbie Williams has lived a life, as one of the most recognisable celebrities of the 21st century (at least, in Europe and Down Under), but at the same time, he was one of the most scrutinised public figures by the tabloids.

 

This is covered in the film, as his high-profile relationship with All Saints singer Nicole Appleton is laid bare in unflattering detail, his pathetic public feud with Liam Gallagher, and his ongoing resentment of the fame he once craved.

 

If you're a fan of Williams, these will be stories you're keen to get his personal take on, and for those newer to the phenomenon that is the 'Angels' singer, they're fun little tidbits of '00s gossip to keep you invested.

 

Fans will adore the musical performances of some of his hits. 'Rock DJ' was a feast for the eyes and ears, performed by Robbie and actors portraying Take That, which doesn't make all that much sense (neither does a singing a monkey) but it doesn't matter.

 

The boy band dances through the streets of London, stomping on cars as a flash mob forms behind them, and it's every bit as spectacular as any musical number in The Greatest Showman.

 

I will admit, I was a little surprised by some of the songs that didn't make the cut in this film.

 

'Bodies', 'Millennium' and 'Supreme' went without mention, and as an Australian (a fandom on the other side of the planet that has made him millions), a little nod to the Kylie Minogue duet 'Kids' would have been welcomed.

 

It's curious that he omitted some of these hits but performed two full songs that were not his own tunes.

 

I understand that Frank Sinatra's 'My Way' made sense with the narrative as a song that was meaningful to his father, but I could have done without hearing the entirety of 'Land of 1000 Dances' by Wilson Pickett — aanother Robbie classic would have been much better in its place.

 

But overall, there are plenty of hits for fans to enjoy, like the emotionally-charged 'Come Undone', sweeping romance of 'She's the One' and truly heartwrenching 'Feel', performed by Robbie as a young boy whose deadbeat dad just abandoned him.

 

And of course, 'Angels' was truly gorgeous, as it was sung after Robbie's beloved grandmother passed away and her casket was lowered into the ground.

 

Sure, this movie doesn't do subtly, but it does nail sentimentality. It's a big movie with big feelings.

 

Is it a little self-indulgent? Sure. There's a clear 'poor me' narrative that runs throughout that can get a tad tiresome coming from a rich white man.

 

At the same time, Williams is aware that he's an imperfect person, so he's not afraid to show himself at his worst, shedding any sympathy as quickly as he earns it.

 

The thing that probably prevents Better Man from being a forgettable biopic was the one thing I couldn't get past: the CGI monkey.

 

For the film, the actor Jonno Davies performed the motion capture for the monkey's movements, while Williams provided his own voice for the character.

 

The decision to portray Williams as a monkey was because the singer repeatedly referred to himself throughout his early career as a "performing monkey".

 

This would be well and good if it weren't for all the things this monkey would need to do in the movie. Things a monkey should never do.

 

I'm not even talking about the constant drug abuse. After seeing Chimp Robbie snort his 15th line of cocaine, this didn't raise an eyebrow for me.

 

It was the sexual scenes that were too uncomfortable to stomach. I don't want to see an unclothed ape lying in bed with three naked models, or the contorted mug of a chimp kissing the lips of an All Saints member.

 

It's just weird, okay!!

 

Perhaps, the problem is me: the most recent monkey media I consumed was Chimp Crazy, which featured several accounts of people being (quite literally) torn apart by chimpanzees, so it's hard for me to see them as anything more than a wild animal, and definitely not sexy.

 

But really, who would find this sexy??

 

I'm not opposed to sexy animals, after all, I have seen Kovu in The Lion King: Simba's Pride, and I am only human, but this monkey was just not hot enough!

 

Between the fanged teeth that could bite someone's ear off (it happens!) and the wide-set eyes and thick body hair (if that's your thing, do you!), I just can't be attracted to this monkey man.

 

This wouldn't be a huge problem in other biopics. After all, not everyone has to be sexy.

 

But sadly, Robbie Williams does.

 

Robbie's brand was built on his sex appeal; the type of indescribable allure to inspire thousands upon thousands of women to scream his name in stadiums around Europe and Australia.

 

This was a man known for seducing women in interviews, often ending up making out with the women who did press with him.

 

Between his cheeky grin, bedroom eyes, and edgy tattoos, this man was sex in the early '00s.

 

Yes, he had an impressive singing voice, playful stage presence and songwriting skills, but I'd hazard a guess that most of his fans were first enticed by his physical presence.

 

Williams being a sexless monkey in his biopic speaks more to the singer's view of himself than his legions of fans. This is acknowledged in the film's trailer, as Robbie muses "This is my story but I'm not going to tell it in an ordinary way because I don't see myself how others see me."

 

I'd go as far as to say that it also speaks to a level of ego, too. The casting of a monkey has sidestepped a young, attractive actor who would have (literally) stepped into his shoes and played his younger self, as if it would solidify his dwindling relevance at the age of 50.

 

But monkey business aside, this was a fun ride!

 

It's not exactly breaking the mould for biopics (aside from the aforementioned CGI chimp), with its formulaic narrative structure ending in Robbie's 'apology tour' of sorts, but it worked seamlessly in Better Man, reflecting a lot of addicts' stories.

 

If you're a fan of Robbie Williams, there's a lot to love about this film, and even if you're not, it's still an entertaining ride with a ton of catchy tunes and emotional impact that will have you sobbing between scenes.

 

And yes, there's a singing monkey.

 

https://www.mamamia.com.au/robbie-williams-...ter-man-review/

Lord Mayor of Melbourne Nicholas Reece will also present the star with the Keys to the City to honour his contribution to the state in regards to the movie.

Better Man marked the largest film production in the history of the state of Victoria. The production created almost 3,000 jobs, supported over 900 local businesses, and garnered $142 million for the local economy.

https://www.thepinknews.com/2025/01/02/robb...eration-square/

interesting news about the ecomic side for Australia, thanks, Alex

I am off to see the movie again tonight :funky:

 

Well done Jonno ...

 

@1874577316195766736

@1874839064219672763

‘Mufasa: The Lion King’ tops UK-Ireland box office ahead of ‘Sonic The Hedgehog 3’; ‘Better Man’ opens in fifth, ‘Wicked’ crosses £50m

 

Disney animation Mufasa: The Lion King held off Paramount’s Sonic The Hedgehog 3 in the final UK-Ireland weekend box office of 2024.

 

Mufasa fell a slim 4% on its second session, taking £4.2m; the film had £12.6m by the end of Sunday, December 29, from 10 days in cinemas.

 

This is well down on the £36.9m of 2019’s The Lion King at the same stage (which ended on £76m), but a decent second session that will raise hopes of crossing the £20m mark by the end of its run.

 

It was just enough to hold off Sonic The Hedgehog 3, which took just over £4m from Friday to Sunday, from 639 sites at a £6,290 average. This was down on the £5m start in 650 sites at a £7,671 average of 2022’s Sonic The Hedgehog 2; and the £4.7m opening of 2020’s Sonic The Hedgehog, in 619 sites at a £7,647 average.

 

However, Sonic 3 has £11.8m in total, having opened for previews on Friday, December 20; and like Mufasa will hold hopes of topping £20m before the end of January 2025.

 

Universal’s Wicked topped £50m total with a £2.7m sixth weekend in cinemas – an impressive 7% rise on its previous session. The Cynthia Erivo- and Ariana Grande-starring musical now has £53m in total, overtaking Despicable Me 4 (£48.1m) to become the third-highest-grossing release of 2024.

 

It is behind only Deadpool & Wolverine (£57.6m) and Inside Out 2 (£59.2m) among 2024 releases. At current rates it will hold hopes of overtaking both titles before it leaves cinemas; although this may be impacted by Universal’s decision to release the film on digital services from this Friday, January 3.

 

Disney’s Moana 2 also posted a 7% increase, with £2.2m on its fifth session. The film is now up to £33.8m, as the sixth-highest-grossing 2024 release, with the £39.6m of Dune: Part Two still in its sights.

 

Robbie Williams biopic Better Man started with £1.3m from 658 sites, at a £1,910 average for Entertainment Film Distributors. Including three days of previews, the film has £1.6m. This represents a moderate start in a competitive market; director Michael Gracey’s previous film, musical The Greatest Showman, also got off to a moderate start over the festive period, before ending on a colossal £50.5m.

 

On the final weekend of 2024, takings for the top 15 titles were up 49% on the equivalent weekend from 2023, bringing festive good news for exhibitors after a tough year. The top 15 titles brought in £24.8m, up from £16.6m last year, despite a 5% reduction in open cinema locations. Commercial awards contenders are among the strongest offerings heading into January, with Universal horror Nosferatu and Studiocanal romance We Live In Time starring Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh both opening on January 1, 2025.

 

 

https://www.screendaily.com/news/mufasa-out...5200418.article

Edited January 2Jan 2 by Sydney11

Went to see Better man again today. I had a much better feeling at the screening today.

 

It is obvious the movie triggers some people and gives them a headache. A couple left the screening midway through. But at the end the audience gave a mini spontaneous applause. It was great. I enjoyed the movie a lot more the second time and also cought the Jonno Davies bit that I missed on the first watch.

 

I'm just sorry for 2 people that went to the toilet at the beginning of the Knebworth scene and came back after the cathartic part. They missed the most insane movie sequence ever!

Went to see Better man again today. I had a much better feeling at the screening today.

 

It is obvious the movie triggers some people and gives them a headache. A couple left the screening midway through. But at the end the audience gave a mini spontaneous applause. It was great. I enjoyed the movie a lot more the second time and also cought the Jonno Davies bit that I missed on the first watch.

 

I'm just sorry for 2 people that went to the toilet at the beginning of the Knebworth scene and came back after the cathartic part. They missed the most insane movie sequence ever!

 

The Jonno Davies bit is cute isn't it ^_^

The Jonno Davies bit is cute isn't it ^_^

 

Indeed B-)

IMDB rating is growing again!

7.7 now (was 7.6 since Monday)

 

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt14260836/

Went to see Better man again today. I had a much better feeling at the screening today.

 

It is obvious the movie triggers some people and gives them a headache. A couple left the screening midway through. But at the end the audience gave a mini spontaneous applause. It was great. I enjoyed the movie a lot more the second time and also cought the Jonno Davies bit that I missed on the first watch.

 

I'm just sorry for 2 people that went to the toilet at the beginning of the Knebworth scene and came back after the cathartic part. They missed the most insane movie sequence ever!

It's great to hear that the 2nd time you had a much better feeling!

 

And you're right, these 2 people who missed the Knebworth scene lost the very important message of the plot...

Hope they will re watch it one day :)

 

Well, seems now many of you have already watched Better Man at least 2 times.

It's good!!

I hope that it will pick up the next two weeks with people going to the cinema. I have not seen it yet and looking very much forward.

 

Alex, hen you have more reliable figures will you let us know?

Yes, Liz, sure I will.

While ladies posted also reliable information about box office. Just hoping for a bigger boom with screenings.

 

So I went to see the move again last night with a friend who is a big movie goer & very fussy when it comes to taste in movies & she absolutely loved it . I am also glad I went the second time, the screening room was larger than the one I went to over the Xmas period & we sat at the back so had a really good view .

 

The whole movie took you to some very dark places inside Robbie's head & it must have been a very scary place for him to have been in . I feel he is very lucky indeed to be alive & come through what he did when there was not a lot of help out there at the time for people with mental health issues .

 

I loved the movie second time around , my favourite storyline being the one around Robbie & Nicole. The scene for She's The One storyline was beautifully constructed & you could feel their genuine pain .The Knebworth scene is absolutely epic & the first time you see it you are left with your mouth open in shock.

 

The cinematography is the movie is amazing with the lighting, mood etc & whole emotion & feel of the movie is just spot on for the audience

 

Loved the movie . Go & see it if you have not done so already :cool:

 

 

Robbie Williams’ anti-redemption arc. In Better Man, pop’s embodiment of British lad culture wins us over – by not blaming fame, his dad or Gary Barlow for his mistakes, but himself.

 

“f*** yourselves,” are the final words spoken by Robbie Williams in his new biopic, Better Man. Delivered as a mic drop voice-over, sandwiched between a rendition of “My Way” and the end credits, it’s a double barb that reflects Williams’s double-edged relationship with the public eye. An idealistic drama student from Stoke-on-Trent and noted “little bast*rd” of Nineties boyband Take That, Robbie Williams was thrust into the limelight as a teenager in a country with a punitive celebrity culture. A culture that gives with one hand and prods people’s insecurities with the other; a culture that mines celebrities’ personal lives for tabloid fodder, then tells them they should be grateful for the privilege. Over his decades-long career as boyband pin-up and renegade solo artist, Williams has been worshipped and underestimated, admired and derided, sexualised and despised – often at the same time. The film’s sign-off, then, is both a declaration of victory and a built-in defence mechanism. “f*** yourselves” as in I told you so. “f*** yourselves” as in I know there will be people who still dislike me, and I don’t care.

 

On the face of it, Better Man is an eccentric property: a musical biopic with a 135-minute runtime in which Williams is played by a CGI monkey in an otherwise human cast. Directed by The Greatest Showman’s Michael Gracey, the concept came from candid interviews the pair recorded over a year and a half (much of the voice-over narration is audio taken directly from those interviews). The image of a monkey came up repeatedly whenever Williams talked about how he sees himself – as a cheeky monkey, a performing monkey, an unevolved man (in the film he says that the age you become famous is the age you stop evolving, making him effectively a 15-year-old boy). This became Gracey’s key to unlocking the biopic.

 

It’s admittedly an extra sprinkle of intrigue to get people who aren’t necessarily Robbie Williams fans through the door. But the monkey thing is far more than the novelty it could easily have ended up being. Rather, it’s a device that allows for more surreal explorations of depression and alienation, which hit much harder than they would have with a fully human lead in a strictly governed reality. In that sense, Better Man shares more DNA with the Netflix series Bojack Horseman, an animated tragicomedy about a self-destructive, alcoholic horse in Hollywood, than musical biopics like Rocket Man or Bohemian Rhapsody.

 

The monkey, played by actor Jonno Davies in motion capture (Williams does the voice-over and singing), also helps circumvent some of the prejudices Robbie Williams has faced throughout his career, allowing people to see past the class clown façade. When he’s being beat down – abandoned by his dad, chided as replaceable by ex-Take That manager Nigel Martin-Smith, laughed out of the vocal booth while wearing a Paul Heaton “Northern Scum” beanie – you feel more protective of him. When he’s lashing out, you feel more cautious. As Gracey put it in one interview, “I genuinely think the monkey allows us to see more of Robbie.” The tone, it must be said, would be a lot darker if it were a man getting a handjob from a fan and snorting fat lines of gear in his iamspamspamami Instead, these moments come across in purely primal terms – both funny and heartbreaking

 

Better Man tries to do a lot of things at once and, for the most part, pulls it off. It’s a big-screen drama of a man at war with his demons – quite literally, Braveheart-style, in one scene at Knebworth. It’s a musical that rearranges some of Williams’s greatest hits, from “Feel” to “Angels”, into West End show tunes. It’s a coming-of-age story turned underdog redemption arc, with a knowing wink that guards against self-pity. In short: Billy Elliot for people who grew up on Football Italia and Page 3. And, like the best Robbie hits, Better Man is a raw portrayal of masculinity, addiction and the Faustian bargain of fame. His story is also inseparable from the wider context in which he exists, functioning, too, as a parable of British working class aspiration. “I’m just a chav that got everything they ever wanted,” he tells his rehab group in one scene. “It’s a bit f***ing embarrassing, to be frank. I was taught that fame would solve everything…”

 

The chips have always been stacked against Robbie Williams, one way or another. Even in the role of Take That bad boy, he was sold short. (When he quit in 1995, taking the group’s sex appeal with him, the Samaritans provided a special helpline to counsel fans through their distress.) No matter what he achieves, there will always be a corresponding narrative in which he’s treated as a punchline. His fame somehow unearned, his music “cabaret” (read: tacky). He began to incorporate that into his narrative early on, entering the stage at Knebworth in 2003 – where he deliberately topped Oasis’ record by performing three sold out shows back-to-back – strung-up by his ankles with his arms outstretched. The antiChrist who already crucified himself.

 

Better Man self-consciously re-enacts that narrative. It practically begs to be mocked before it’s been seen – a biopic about who? Played by a what?? – setting up expectations and then exploding them. The coverage of the film has played into this dynamic, as reviews are strewn with backhanded compliments about how the film works “better than you might think”, over-emphasising the fact that Americans don’t know who he is. And why would they? Robbie Williams is the sentient id of the English lad. He’s a packet of Walkers in the back of a Ford Fiesta and a packet of something else down the social club. As he sings of the country, its media and its public, on “Come Undone”: “I’m scum / And I’m your son.” His songs might be universal, but as an entity he makes as much sense Stateside as a Pot Noodle.

 

Robbie Williams has a lot of critics. Some that will exist no matter what, others he’s created over the course of being a “little bast*rd”. In the end, Better Man has been deservedly lauded because he doesn’t point the finger at fame, or his father, or Gary Barlow, but at himself. His 2023 four-part Netflix documentary attempted to do the same, but the face to camera setup and confessional tone irritated some viewers. By contrast, the film’s conceit forces people to look beyond the image of Robbie – the defensive ego, the peroxide gel spikes, all the times he invited Liam Gallagher out for a fight – and meet Robert: a boy from a broken home who loves Frank Sinatra and “dents easy.” He’s been telling us this for years, smuggling lyrics about addiction into pop banger “Let Me Entertain You” and quipping in interviews “My inner voice talks to me like Katie Hopkins talks about fat people”. He just needed to become a literal monkey to get the point across.

 

https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/film/2...-redemption-arc

Edited January 3Jan 3 by Sydney11

 

Well, that's the stats in US yesterday.

Again, all will be more clear in 2 weeks.

Let's see how many cinemas it will get. You can compare that some big movies have 3000+ cinemas per day.

I think if Better Man will get even 500 cinemas we will see the good effect.

 

Interesting that one of the best movie of 2024 (The Count of Monte-Cristo) almost doesn't have any cinemas while September 5 (also Paramount) have not big figures while have almost the same quantity of cinemas like Better Man at the moment.

I highly recommend you to watch this video - it's Q&A in Melbourne yesterday.

Robbie was very funny there.