Singer Robbie Williams Wants To Be A 'Better Man' In Upcoming Biopic, But Doesn't Take Himself Too Seriously

British pop icon Robbie Williams has never taken himself too seriously and his upcoming biopic, Better Man, proves that tenfold.

A trailer for the project recently dropped and features the “Millennium” singer revisiting key areas of his life and career… as a monkey.

Yes, you read that correctly.

Just seconds into the trailer of Better Man, Williams tells the audience that he will not be taking the standard route of common biopics.

“This is my story,” the 50-year-old performer explains in a voiceover, “but I’m not gonna tell it in an ordinary way, because I don’t see myself how others see me.”

We are then treated to an anthropomorphic monkey dropping into center stage. Yes, readers - this will be the representation of the “Rock DJ” performer fans will be treated to for the entirety of the movie.

Williams will provide singing and narrative vocals for the film, but will be voiced and motion-captured by actor Jonno Davies.

“To be honest, I’ve always been a little less ‘evolved,’” the singer goes on to joke.

What isn’t a joke, however, appears to be Better Man as a whole, which pretty much plays Williams’ story straight.

Yes, there are a few amplified details of his run with Take That, the iconic boyband where Robbie first came to public prominence in the early 90s, and his storied run as a solo star that occasionally led him to the edge of sanity and life. However, Williams, ever the storyteller, will be at the forefront of everything, with his voice and songs, including re-recordings of “Angels” and other hits, being prominently featured.

In Better Man, Williams doesn’t hold back in sharing his career highs and lows, playing both hero to the English audience that made him famous, and the villain that nearly destroyed everything he built.

“There were many villains in this movie, until we legally couldn’t have many villains in this movie,” Williams told Deadline earlier this month. “Now the only villain in this movie is me, [which] I’m quite happy [about].”

One of those villains, at least early in the script drafting process, was Gary Barlow, a fellow Take That alum. Barlow and Williams were known to often have a go at one another at the high of the group’s fame. However, with time and healing, both singers have mended fences.

So much so, that when Williams shared an early draft with Barlow, he made the choice to place most of the burden on his onscreen self.

“In the script, I speak how I spoke and I think how I thought back then,” Robbie shared. “We sent [Gary] the script and he rang me [up and said], Rob, I come off worse than Darth Vader in the first Star Wars.”

Willams’ past relationship with singer Nicole Appleton of All Saints (“Never Ever”) fame is heavily featured in Better Man.

The two first met in 1997 while filming an episode of Top of the Pops, a legendary music program akin to American Bandstand here in the States. Though they were engaged, they ended the relationship in 1999.

Just as with Barlow, Williams’ characterization in Better Man sees him being the aggressor of their doomed pairing, although Robbie appeared to play it this way without amending the script.

“She didn’t deserve the version of me she got,” Robbie told Deadline. “I feel great shame I didn’t represent myself in the best way possible [back then], because she deserves the best and deserves the best me and she didn’t get it.”

After seeing the film herself, Appleton and Williams shared an emotional Facetime call.

Another contentious relationship heavy featured in Williams’ Better Man is the one with his father. The singer alleges that his dad left him and his mom early in life, causing more than a bit of strain between the pair.

As such, Robbie has yet to show his father the film, nor does he plan to.

“I don’t want him to see it,” he said. “I’ve done so much work on myself. I’ve rehabbed. I’ve therapied. I’ve lived in Los Angeles for 24 years. I’ve picked up on how to do this and heal yourself. Us Brits don’t do that. My dad hasn’t and hasn’t needed to. We haven’t had this conversation.”

While promoting Better Man with Entertainment Tonight, talk turned to Robbie’s past issues with drugs and alcohol, and how fame often exacerbates one’s inner demons. Over the years, the singer has been incredibly open about his struggles with substance abuse and mental health.

With the tragic passing of One Direction star Liam Payne fresh on his mind, Williams, who mentored the “Strip That Down” singer during his X-Factor days, as Rolling Stone reported, feels that something should be done to help younger stars in the industry.

“There’s a think tank that’s needed, where creative people that are emphatic and compassionate can [offer advice],” Williams stated. “I think that if you are following [things] closely, we are beginning to understand that fame isn’t a fix-all.”

“It’s great on the other side of the bridge,” he continued, speaking of his personal journey, “but most who experience that level of fame? Some are lucky to get to the other end [of it, but] a lot aren’t.”

Just this year, Robbie Williams released a self-titled docuseries on Netflix. In it, he is just as open about his trials and tribulations, which is something he attributes to being neurodivergent.

“I don’t pick up on the cues where normal people go, ‘I better not share that or I better not share that,’” he admits. “I’m good with social cues. I get them. It’s all this other stuff. I go, ‘Here are my hemorrhoids.’ People go, ‘Maybe you should not show your hemorrhoids.’ I go, ‘Why? I have hemorrhoids. I don’t get it.’”

See how open Robbie can be in Paramount Pictures’ Better Man, coming to select theaters on Christmas Day, with a worldwide release to follow on January 17, 2025.

His docuseries, Robbie Williams, can be streamed now on Netflix.