Young Elton John ends a relationship (badly) in our exclusive deleted scene from Rocketman. Released back in May, Dexter Fletcher's Elton John biopic was a critical success that earned praise for Taron Egerton's lead performance (which included doing his own singing) and the way that it deviates from the typical musician biography by exploring John's life through a jukebox musical composed of his own songs. In fact, Egerton's turn was so widely celebrated that some expect him to be a contender in the approaching Best Actor Oscar race.
Of course, the film's supporting cast members are deserving of recognition too, especially Jamie Bell and his appearances as Elton's longtime friend and songwriter, Bernie Taupin. The movie charts the full course of their friendship with one another, going back to their early days when Elton is still a struggling - and closeted - musician in a pseudo-romantic relationship with his landlady, Arabella (Ophelia Lovibond). And although Bernie is supportive of Elton upon learning the truth about his sexuality, he also reminds him that he needs to be honest and break things off with Arabella.
Screen Rant has the exclusive on a Rocketman deleted scene that shows what occurred when Elton and Bernie revealed the truth to Arabella. You can check it out in the space below.
All in all, it makes sense that this scene was dropped from Rocketman's theatrical cut. The film doesn't explicitly depict Elton telling Arabella the truth, but makes it clear that things didn't go well and results in Elton being properly kicked out of his flat. That's to say, it feels a bit unnecessary to show how the exchange actually played out, and makes more sense to leave it to viewers to intuit what happened. Naturally, this scene will be included with Rocketman's upcoming Blu-ray release on August 27, along with other deleted scenes and special features that offer a behind the scenes look at the movie's production. Those who want to watch (or rewatch) the film now can go ahead and check it out on Digital, along with the deleted scenes and special features.
As for Egerton: it will be interesting to see if he manages to gain some traction on the awards circuit this fall/winter. Rami Malek ultimately took home a Best Actor Oscar for his performance as Freddie Mercury from last year's musical biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, and was far from the first actor to take home the gold for portraying a real-life music icon either (see also: Jamie Foxx winning for his work in Ray). It's too early to really gauge how this year's Oscar race is going to play out, but at the least Egerton and Rocketman as a whole have a good shot at landing some recognition.
Rocketman is now available on Digital. Its Blu-ray arrives in three weeks on Tuesday, August 27.