Taron Egerton duets with Elton John at the piano at his annual Oscars party

Around the time of the Academy Awards ceremony, Elton John held his annual Oscars party. The party is well known for hosting an auction to benefit John’s AIDS foundation. However, this year, as music became the theme of some of the Academy Awards wins, something different happened.

As reported by Vulture, British actor Taron Egerton is playing John in a “fantasy musical” titled “Rocketman.” The film puts to music certain areas of Elton’s life. At the party, Egerton did what was reportedly a spontaneous duet with Elton on the piano of the music master’s popular song “Tiny Dancer” with harmony vocals and to tumultuous applause.

‘Rocketman’ for next year’s Oscars?

With films like Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s “A Star is Born” featuring in the Academy Awards and Rami Mallek gaining his first Oscar for his role as Freddie Mercury in “Bohemian Rhapsody,” it was probably the perfect time for Taron Egerton to get that extra edge with his duet with the great Elton John, included here.

As noted in a recent article about “Rocketman,” in the featurette for the film (included end of article), Egerton can be heard to give a remarkable, pitch-perfect performance of John’s songs. The actor, who has been seen before in “The Smoke” and “The Dark Crystal Age of Resistance,” said in a featurette about the film that it was his “greatest joy” to play the role of the iconic singer, songwriter and pianist.

At that time, the Huffington Post quoted the director of “Rocketman,” Dexter Fletcher (“Snowpiercer” and “Billy Elliot”) as saying that as an actor, Egerton has an “incredible range,” adding he is convincing in the role and also saying his voice is “incredible.” They had previously worked together on the film “Eddie the Eagle.” Fletcher said of the new film that he is hoping to create something that will entertain, amaze and inform viewers.

As noted by Variety, Egerton himself has stressed that unlike “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Rocketman” is not a biopic. He called the film a “fantasy musical,” where songs are used to express certain important moments in John’s life and apparently, other characters in the film also sing.

Similar to Bradley Cooper’s insistence in “A Star is Born,” Egerton also insisted on performing live, saying he would always be singing on the set, not miming, as that was not his thing.

Meanwhile, Egerton also has the title role of the upcoming “Robin Hood” film, together with Jamie Foxx and Jamie Dornan.

Other stars in ‘Rocketman’

There seem to be a number of “Jamies” in Egerton’s life at the moment, as Jamie Bell will be starring at Elton’s longtime lyricist, Bernie Taupin. Bryce Dallas Howard plays Elton’s mother, Sheila Eileen and Richard Madden (“Game of Thrones”) plays the role of John’s manager, John Reid. “Rocketman” is set to premiere in cinemas on 31 May 2019.