Madden plays John Reid, Elton John’s first manager and boyfriend. While he doesn’t have a great deal to sing himself, he does have a little – and Madden has joked in interviews that it was far out of his comfort zone. Safe to say we may not see him pursuing a music career any time soon.
Speaking to Jimmy Fallon, the James Bond frontrunner said: “I did a little singing and dancing… thank God for autotune!
“It’s not my strong point, singing and dancing. But it’s part of the storytelling of each part of his life.”
Speaking on Good Morning America, he said he was “intimidated” by the prospect of having to sing.
“You feel so exposed when you’re singing,” he said.
“It’s easier to try and think about the storytelling rather than the notes that I’m trying to do with my voice.”
Speaking about the movie as a whole – after it picked up stellar reviews – he said: “It’s great – it goes from amazing drama scenes into crazy abstract sequences into music numbers. It’s a wild adventure.”
And on getting to know Elton himself, he said: “I didn’t actually get to meet Elton until after filming.
“Which was good, because I was quite intimidated by him.
“He’s the most lovely, generous, loving, caring man.”
In a separate interview, Taron Egerton – who plays Elton – spoke about the singing aspects, explaining that some of the moments were recorded live, while many others were set to pre-recorded studio vocals.
“It’s a mix. In the interest of full disclosure, it’s a mix,” he told Fox5 DC.
“So for example, the things I do live are Your Song, I do Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, and I do I’m Still Standing.”
He elaborated: “They’re live up until… I don’t want to de-mystify Dexter’s film too much… but in rehab, it’s live.
“Your Song is totally live, and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is live until I’m outside of Madison Square Garden.”
Whilst the star would happily have sung live more, it just wasn’t possible on many occasions.
“I wanted to do it live as much as I could because obviously there’s a sense of authenticity to that,” he explained.
“But there’s something like Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting – logistically, technically, that would be impossible.”
Rocketman is out now.