Robbie Williams wanted to be portrayed as a lion in his new CGI biopic.
The former Take That singer, 50, has had his life brought to the big screen in a biographical movie called ‘Better Man’ in which he’s played by a computer generated chimp, but said he asked director Michael Gracey to initially make him the ‘king of the jungle’ in the film.
He told NME in a joint chat with the filmmaker: “(I initially told Michael I wanted to be a) lion.
“I was trying to get some self-worth for myself at the time – and still, every day. ‘Chin out, chest out – lion’.
“And Michael just went: (pulls uncertain expression.)
“I went, ‘Monkey?’
“He went, ‘Yeah, OK,’ and pitched me the idea and I was totally onboard.
“Because that’s it, innit? I’m a cheeky monkey, aren’t I? If they said, on ‘Family Fortunes’, ‘We asked 100 people, ‘What animal is Robbie Williams?’, the people that don’t hate me would probably go, ‘He’s a monkey’.”
Michael said when asked why he wanted Robbie to be an animal in the movie:
“There’s been a number of musical biopics and I was searching for something that would be, from an audience point of view, more interesting.
“When I came up with that idea, it just really made me smile.
“You see more of Rob in the monkey than you would if it was an actor playing him.
“We did hi-res scans of Rob’s eyes, so it is actually, in all those close-ups, Rob looking out at you.”
The CGI monkey is played by actor Jonno Davies, and the film features no-holds-barred depiction of Robbie’s drug and alcohol addictions.
Robbie previously told The Guardian about his personality in an interview about the biopic: “I am a professional attention seeker. Without attention I cease to exist. Professionally I need to do this.
“Because this is my job. This is how you advertise that you’re still here. My job, fortunately or unfortunately, revolves around eyes being on you.”