Richard Madden has commented on the backlash surrounding Taron Egerton being cast as gay icon Elton John, reasoning it would be ‘terrible’ to cast actors based on their personal lives.
Wading into the debate, the Bodyguard actor urged the industry to ‘focus more on diversity and having everyone represented.’
He added to The Guardian’s Weekend magazine: ‘It’s a really terrible route to go down if we start restricting people’s casting based on their personal lives.
‘We have to focus more on diversity and having everyone represented, but also I’m a firm believer in the best actor for the role.’
Taron previously faced backlash when he was cast as the legendary musician.
With Elton coming out as bisexual back in 1976 and gay in 1988, some were less than impressed when it was announced that the 29-year-old, who identifies as heterosexual, would be taking on the role.
Nevertheless, Taron’s still hopeful he’ll be accepted in the upcoming biopic, which will detail the Tiny Dancer singer’s life.
‘I’ve approached it wholeheartedly and I hope that for that reason people accept me [as Elton],’ the Kingsman actor explained in response to the criticism.
‘The LGBTQ community has always been about inclusiveness, hasn’t it? Not about, “We’re here. You’re there.” In fact, if you want to come in, come on in.’
He added to GQ: ‘It was a fairly revolutionary time. Men were more outlandish. We didn’t have role models like that when we were growing up. Sometimes, I think I’m from a time gone by, born too late.’
However, despite the backlash, the star has appeared perfect for the role so far, with even Elton reportedly agreeing there’s no one else who could play him.
And he’s certainly not taking it lightly, revealing that he gave it his all during a ‘beautiful’ love scene which sees Elton losing his virginity.
Revealing that he doesn’t ‘know how much further we could have gone’, Taron admitted to Attitude magazine that ‘in the script, this is the scene of Elton losing his virginity and we wanted to try to do that justice.
‘They were falling in love and it’s beautiful because it should be.’
Rocketman releases in cinemas on 24 May.
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