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With director Dexter Fletcher’s Rocketman now playing in theaters, I recently sat down with Bryce Dallas Howard to talk about making the fantasy musical based on the life of Elton John. As most of you know from the trailers, Rocketman isn’t your convention biopic. Yes, you’ll see how John (Taron Egerton) and his writing partner Bernie Taupin (Jamie Bell) came up with some of their iconic songs, and the film does include a few of the tropes you see in all movies based on someone’s life. But Rocketman also stages these elaborate musical sequences set to John’s most beloved songs that exist in their own reality. For more on the film, you can read Greg Ellwood’s review from Cannes. Rocketman also stars Richard Madden as Elton’s first manager, John Reid, and Bryce Dallas Howard as Elton’s mother Sheila Farebrother.

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During my interview with Bryce Dallas Howard, she talked about how she got involved in the project, why she didn’t have a lot of time to prepare for the role, her reaction to the finished film, and more. In addition, Howard talked about how she ended up directing an episode of the Disney+ series The Mandalorian and the new technology Jon Favreau is using to bring the streaming series to life.

Check out what she had to say in the player above and below is exactly what we talked about.

Bryce Dallas Howard:

  • How did she get involved in Rocketman?
  • How she had very little time before she needed to be on set.
  • What was her reaction to seeing the finished film?
  • How did she end up directing an episode of the Disney+ series The Mandalorian?

Here is the official synopsis for Rocketman:

ROCKETMAN is an epic musical fantasy about the incredible human story of Elton John’s breakthrough years. The film follows the fantastical journey of transformation from shy piano prodigy Reginald Dwight into international superstar Elton John. This inspirational story – set to Elton John’s most beloved songs and performed by star Taron Egerton – tells the universally relatable story of how a small-town boy became one of the most iconic figures in pop culture.

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Image via Paramount Pictures

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Image via Paramount Pictures
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Image via Paramount Pictures