Aidan Gillen has revealed when he met music manager John Reid – whom he plays in ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ – he kept asking him questions about Richard Madden.
The 50-year-old actor brought Reid to life in the Oscar-winning Queen biopic – which stars Rami Malek as the group’s legendary late frontman Freddie Mercury – whilst the ‘Bodyguard’ star portrays John in the forthcoming Elton John biopic ‘Rocketman’, in which Taron Egerton will play the flamboyant singer.
The ‘Game of Thrones’ star explained that John, 69, was "tickled" by the idea of both actors playing him but was very interested in Richard and his talents as an actor.
In an exclusive interview with BANG Showbiz, Aidan said: "The conversation I had with John Reid, by the way, was all about that [Richard Madden]. He was like, ‘Do you know Richard Madden? Do you know he’s playing me? Who is taller?’ That kind of thing.
"It’s cool, he was just tickled by the idea, I was just glad to get away with it. I just thought, ‘This guy managed Elton John for 25 years. He’s gonna tell me what he thinks.’
"You know, I kind of thought of him as the Simon Cowell of his day and so I met him at the premiere and he was totally cool said he enjoyed it and I believed him and we were both wearing pink as well so I must of got something right."
Aidan thinks Reid was more interested in ‘Rocketman’ because he managed Elton for 25 years and only helped Queen in their career for two years and he will feature in ‘Rocketman’ a lot more.
Aidan – who is starring in new SyFy series ‘Project Blue Book’ – said: "I don’t know, I think in ‘Rocketman’, I think John Reid is much more of a character, so there will probably be a bit more to it, Richard Madden is great."
Aidan Gillen spills that John Reid is very interested in Richard Madden’s portrayal of him
