Robbie Williams has revealed amendments were made to the script of his new semi-autobiographical film Better Man after former bandmate Gary Barlow felt he “came off worse than Darth Vader in Star Wars”.
The musical film is based on the true story of the meteoric rise, fall and return of British musician Williams.
Williams, 50, rose to fame in Take That alongside Barlow, Howard Donald, Mark Owen and Jason Orange before he left the group in 1995 in the middle of their Nobody Else world tour.
Appearing on the New Year’s Eve episode of The Graham Norton Show, he said: “I sent the first script to Gary Barlow and he phoned me up – we have a great relationship now – and said ‘Rob, I come off worse than Darth Vader in Star Wars’, so we made amendments.
“When you talk about my past it happens to be contentious, and I was a different person then.
“The film brings all that up again so it’s super odd and I can understand how it could be hard for Gary.
“As for the other people I throw under the bus I don’t care.”
During their time in Take That together, the group became one of Britain’s biggest boybands in the 1990s, evoking hysteria reminiscent of The Beatles.
The band notched up a host of number one hits and sold millions of albums in the 1990s, but tensions began to show between Barlow, seen as the serious songwriter of the group, and Williams, the rebellious joker.
Williams went on to pursue a solo career, cementing his status as an entertainer and hitmaker with songs including Rock DJ and Angels.
Despite his success, the singer has never quite broken into the American market.
Reflecting on if he feels the new film could now be his chance, he said: “Maybe. It’s not the be all and end all but, it would scratch an itch.”
The singer – being portrayed by a CGI chimpanzee in the new film – offers a twist on the traditional biopic style.
“There needed to be a creative difference because the biopic genre has got a bit long and a bit tired, so we needed a unique selling point,” he said.
“When I heard everyone else in the film would be human and I would be a monkey I thought ‘Yes! This is an eccentric idea, it’s a huge swing, I can instantly see it, it’s incredible.’
“It was only when I told my wife I realised it might be contentious.”
Directed by Michael Gracey, who also helmed musical The Greatest Showman, the film follows the singer’s childhood, time in Take That and solo career, while exploring the issues fame can bring.
Williams admitted the film was challenging to watch at times, saying: “It starts out all cheeky chappie and then 45 minutes in it is just like Trainspotting – it’s like the greatest hits of trauma and grief so yes, it’s a bit confronting, a bit triggering.”
Better Man is set for release on December 26 in the UK.
The Graham Norton Show will air on BBC One on New Year’s Eve at 10.25pm.
