Taron Egerton sat down for a chat with GQ UK this month to promote his star turn in the upcoming Elton John biopic Rocketman and revealed he loves to hang out at gay clubs. The stars, they’re just like us.
He also expressed discomfort around feeling pressured to be hypermasculine on sets like Kingsman, being “the ‘guy’, the ‘bro’, the ‘stunt guy.”
“I always felt more at home in a gay club than at a football match, far more at home,” he said. Sadly he failed to mention which gay clubs he likes to frequent. Could Taron be a circuit queen after all?
Later he added:
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
“I’m not someone who really subscribes to this binary view of male and female archetypes or ways of behaving. … Our concept of what a straight man or gay man looks like or is expected to behave in 20 years will be nothing like it is now.”
You tell ’em!
The actor also touched upon the recent non-troversey around a story that studio execs at Paramount demanded cuts to the film’s gay sex scenes. Those reports were quickly dismissed as false.
“Well, the stuff we shot was pretty explicit. I mean, that’s why I made the film,” Egerton told GQ UK.
“And for me, especially as a heterosexual actor, not to push the envelope as far as I can or try to make it a wholehearted celebration of being a gay man would be wrong. … What’s an extra $25 million at the box office? What are you willing to do for that? Sacrifice sleeping at night because you watered the whole thing down?”
The feature also includes an interview with Elton John’s husband and Rocketman producer David Furnish, who spoke candidly about his first impressions of John and why Egerton ended up nabbing the highly competitive role:
“When I first met Elton I was quite taken by his masculinity. He’s quite a blokey gay man. You can take him and put him in these costumes, pile up the feathers or the crazy stuff, and it all just kind of lands on him in a very masculine way. Taron has real gravitas and it’s very similar. He has the incredible -sensitivity and gentleness that Elton has, but he also has this manliness too. It’s a very complex quality.”
Rocketman arrives in theaters May 31.
Watch the trailer below:
Dan Tracer is a queer writer, noisemaker, and amateur astral projector. Find him on Instagram.
Brian
This guy is a retread of the Nick Jonas gay baiting from 2 years ago. And since Queerty is posting an article every time he farts, it’s obviously a decent marketing strategy.
PinkoOfTheGange
Your are wrong stating that he is queer baiting.
PinkoOfTheGange
And I used the wrong your.
Brian
So you just take that statement completely at face value? That’s cute.
Charlie in Charge
Because how dare a straight guy say they like to hang out with gay guys because we’re more comfortable to be around?
Doug
I totally agree with Brian. This is yet another actor getting as much attention as he can being gay friendly, mainly because he’s playing Elton John in an upcoming film. “Bohemian Rhapsody” brought in big box office receipts and made Rami Malek a star, and he’s hoping for the same.
Diplomat-G
@Brian,
Do you ever shut up or is it your quest in life to simply be a twisted asshole about everything.?
Juanjo
Thank you. It seems like Brian wakes every morning and looks around, thinking, “who can I bitch about today”?
iamru2
@ Juan You mean like your constant bitching and hateful attacks on people for commenting in a comment section?
Brian
So tell me where I’m wrong in my comment.
Brian
I can guarantee that Juanjo makes more comments criticizing other posters than I do criticizing articles. And I can guarantee that he thinks it’s justified to do EXACTLY what he criticizes the rest of us for doing because he’s morally superior and we started it. Because it’s always different when they do it. It’s that patented liberal hypocrisy that they are completely incapable of recognizing.
iamru2
@ Brian LOL so true and if you notice when they are called out on their BS they never come back and respond because they know they cannot argue against their hypocrisy.
iamru2
He sounds really insecure.
Juanjo
“You made a typo there, girlfriend. You used the 3rd person for a comment about yourself.
Brian
Did you really just use a variation of “I know you are but what am I” as an insult? That was a choice.
WeHo90046
Omg so catty. Meow!!!
jcoberkrom
Kinda of sad that he talks so much about manliness! Why does it matter so much to him? Why does it matter so much to anybody?
PinkoOfTheGange
It was in response to a question about…wait for it…masculinity.
Jon in Canada
I’ve known many straight men who preferred gay hot spots to sports bars, because SHOCKER, not all straight men are into sports and many are secure in their sexuality. This isn’t queer baiting, the man’s been doing this long before Kingsman, let alone Rocketman came along. When we were in London 3 years back, we saw him at G-A-Y and he was having a grand time. By all means, tut-tut and clutch the pearls, but at the end of the day, his being more comfortable being himself speaks volumes over those who wish to simply dismiss him.
Diplomat-G
@ Jon in Canada,
Thank you, Jon, I swear these bitchy queens have nothing better to do all day but ridicule others.
Brian
Do you not realize that there are more types of bars than gay bars and straight bars?
Doug
I’ve known one or two, but I certainly can’t say “many.”
TheMarc
When I first read the title of the article, I was ready to go off on yet another gay baiting male celebrity. But when you read his comments in actual context, he’s not gay baiting at all. In fact, he makes some decent points and I appreciate the fact he was against straight-washing his movie.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
Good on him!
My straight BF loves going to Gay bars with me. He is incredibly hot and has his pick of the hot girls who come to have fun, dance and not get harassed all night…
DCguy
From looking at the history, this guy seems to have been trying to come out for the past year or so and the studio keeps trying to push him back in.
He also put out a tweet with him and a guy saying “He’s mine” and then it was deleted soon after.
scotty
this just in: water is wet.
Gary Q VV
The real answer is that everybody is speculating with no real evidence of his reasons for enjoying our company and lifestyle – as varied as they may be. So, everybody calm down and pull in those forked tongues before you make enemies here. Opinion: With that said, I too believe he’s a closeted Queer who’s begging to come out. Anybody want to throw daggers in my direction? If so, save it for some other deserving comment.