Why is the mega star in the film a monkey?

Robbie Williams has often made a fool of himself in his career. His boy band Take That kicked him out because of drug escapades, and deeply hurt, his girlfriend Nicole Appleton (Raechelle Banno) ended their relationship. The mega star shows all of this openly in his biopic Better Man – The Robbie Williams Story, which is now playing in cinemas. The film’s bizarre basic idea becomes apparent from second one: Williams is actually depicted as a monkey. Better Man in the cinema: Why is Robbie Williams a monkey?

On paper, Better Man has a standard biopic story: The story begins on a football field in Williams’ English hometown of Stoke-On-Trent, where he struggling for affection and friendship in the mud. His father turns away from the family to become an entertainer. Raised by his mother (Kate Mulvaney) and grandmother (Alison Steadman), his son also takes the chance and joins Take That. But that’s just the beginning.

Check out the trailer for Better Man here:

Compared to other representatives of the biopic genre, however, a difference is noticeable from the first scene: Williams stars as a CGI chimpanzee, who was spoken by himself and embodied in a motion capture template by Jonno Davies.

Does that work well? Yes, Better Man is great and one of the biggest cinematic surprises of the year. But why did director Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman) make a fool of the mega-star in the first place?

Reason 1: The audience feels more sorry for a monkey

He always saw himself as a little less developed, Williams himself explains his monkey shape in the trailer for the film. In our first impression we also explain that this makes the audience more sympathetic towards the protagonist: some of the brutalities that Williams commits over the course of the film are more forgiving of a wild or cute animal than a human. Gracey expressed a very similar thought to the Independent when he said:

One feels more compassion for the suffering of an animal than for that of a human being. There’s nothing glamorous about a monkey snorting cocaine. It’s rather sad and uncomfortable. You just don’t want to see him do it.

Reason 2: Robbie Williams saw himself as a monkey

This explains the special effect of the idea. According to the article, the original idea came to the director through his first conversation with Williams, in which he often referred to himself as “Performer monkey” means that a flash of inspiration formed in the filmmaker’s head.

Reason 3: Famous people like Robbie Williams are as isolated as monkeys

But there is a third reason for the monkey, as Gracey explains: fame. According to him, Better Man is also about loneliness and other painful consequences of celebrity:

When a famous person walks into the room, we can’t help but look at them. We are simply spellbound. That’s why the monkey idea works so well. Even in the scenes where Robbie doesn’t say anything, we’re staring at him like, “Wow, that’s a monkey!” And This is what it feels like to be famous.

Michael Gracey had to take all of The Greatest Showman credits to make Better Man. “And that was absolutely because of the monkey“, said the director. In the end he was able to prevail. Good thing: Better Man is absolutely worth seeing, touching and honest. Thanks to the chimpanzee.

Better Man has been running ever since January 2, 2025 in German cinemas.