Robbie Williams | Explain This
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00:00People ask me, are the songs you're sick of performing?
00:02And then I tell them this song, which I'll tell you.
00:04And then they look at me disappointed.
00:06They say, you asked the f***ing question.
00:08Can you imagine if there was one that I said and they went, yeah, f*** that.
00:11Anyway, it's Millennium.
00:12In my head, I go, we've got stars directing our fate.
00:15And they're like, have we?
00:16And they're praying it's not too late.
00:19Are they?
00:19Because we know we're falling from grace.
00:22Are we?
00:23Millennium.
00:24It's just welded on at the end, isn't it?
00:26Nothing to do with the song.
00:29Hi, I'm Robbie Williams, and Esquire has asked me to explain a few things.
00:33Let's dive in, shall we?
00:40When was the last time you listened to a Take That song?
00:45I think probably the last time was the Progress album.
00:48Just recently, when I rejoined, which I think is mine and our best work.
00:54It's a really odd album for a boy band to do.
00:56If you break it down lyrically, it's full of conspiracy and dystopian weirdness.
01:02And that's not the MO.
01:03Take that back.
01:05All right, doo, doo, doo, doo.
01:07The CIA are up to something.
01:12You were at the heart of bit pop culture.
01:14What do you think was the magic of the moment in time?
01:18Cocaine and attention.
01:20Britain hasn't stopped being Britain.
01:21It just hasn't got the oxygen that it had at the time.
01:24And also, we were really mean and rude.
01:27We said mean and rude things as a matter of course.
01:31And it's not very good for the soul, but it makes great coffee.
01:37What's one event you wish you had a chance to play?
01:40To be honest with you, I've got so much wrapped up in the idea of being Robbie Williams
01:45and what that means, that there is an ego death.
01:48I play stadiums, right?
01:50If they took that away from me and I was in arenas, it'd be problematic for me.
01:54How mad is my life that arenas don't jive well because I want to be in stadiums?
02:00This is a problem because I'm 50 and I could do with just cutting that out.
02:05I get in the car and I turn up.
02:07I don't care where it is, as long as it's a stadium.
02:10Explain your strategy to stay positive.
02:12Marry a wonderful person.
02:14Before, either.
02:15Miserable, miserable, rehab, miserable,
02:18depression, anxiety, agoraphobia.
02:20After either, great.
02:21Since kids though, I'm on steroids when it comes to positivity
02:25because it's not about me anymore.
02:28He said, lying.
02:29You had your share of celebrity beefs, many of which you've moved on from.
02:33Which beefs are you happy are behind you?
02:35So here's the thing about these sort of things, right?
02:38I know nothing about fungus infested trees.
02:41I'm creating art, man.
02:42Do I need to know about fungus infested trees?
02:45No.
02:45Can somebody take care of that for me?
02:47Yeah.
02:47Do I find out about it by mistake when I'm on the internet one day
02:51and I'm like, have we got fungus infested trees?
02:53Yes, that also happens.
02:55The new film, however, will trigger a few people.
02:58I sent the first script to Gary Barlow and he read it and he phoned me
03:03and there's no shouting, but he's just like,
03:05Rob, I've come across worse than Darth Vader in the first Star Wars.
03:08I have to tell my story and I have to speak and think how I spoke and thunk,
03:12thunk, thunk back then.
03:14And it wasn't complimentary.
03:16And neither would his be to me.
03:18If the film was Robbie Williams' period from 2012 to 2024,
03:25it'd be a love letter to Gary Barlow, but it wouldn't be as interesting.
03:29What did you learn from some of the difficult moments you had with Liam Gallagher?
03:33How did you make peace with him?
03:34That I'm deeply sensitive and if you belittle me or bully me,
03:40it's name, palm death for you.
03:42Here's the thing about Liam Gallagher,
03:44the voice of our generation, charisma off the charts,
03:47wonderful to watch, incredible to listen to.
03:50The world is a better place for having Liam Gallagher in it.
03:54And how did you make peace with him?
03:55He tweeted me when there was a story about my parents being ill
03:59and it was very, very lovely.
04:01And in that moment, everything that I just said about him,
04:03that's the only thing that exists for me in my mind with Liam Gallagher.
04:07He's, yeah, he's a hero of mine.
04:10How did you feel the first time you saw yourself as a CGI monkey?
04:14It was really, really exciting.
04:16Michael Gracie, the director, came to me one day and he said,
04:19what's your spirit animal?
04:21And I said, lion.
04:23And he was like, really?
04:25I was like, monkey?
04:26And he was like, yeah, here's the idea.
04:28Everyone in the movie is human apart from you and you're a CGI monkey.
04:32Before we got to the end of the sentence, I was like,
04:34I mean, you don't even have to finish the sentence.
04:36Yes is the answer.
04:38Because you know that this idea hasn't been seen before.
04:41And to be lucky enough to be part of an idea that is a massive swing,
04:45it's either going to be a huge idea that's incredibly brilliant
04:49or a huge idea that's incredibly ****.
04:52And I like that.
04:54I like the gamble.
04:55Were you a fan of The Greatest Showman before you met Michael Gracie?
04:59Yes, I was.
05:00Michael, a long time ago, phoned me up and said,
05:03I need to come round the house and ask a favour.
05:05He comes round and he shows me the storyboards
05:07for this film he wants to make, The Greatest Showman.
05:10And in my head, I was like, can I ask me any?
05:13Can I ask me to do it?
05:14Then he plays me a song and I'm like, blows me away.
05:16Plays me two songs, blows me away.
05:18Third song.
05:19And I'm like, this is my entrance into the film world.
05:24And the answer is yes.
05:26And he said, will you ring Hugh Jackman and convince him to do it?
05:30I was like, OK.
05:32Yeah, crestfallen.
05:33I didn't tell him in the room that that's what was going on,
05:36but he's known since.
05:38What was the turning point that made you want to do a TV series and a movie?
05:42I'm an attention seeker for a profession.
05:45This is what we do, innit?
05:46And this is the oxygen that I need to prolong my career.
05:50It's as simple as that.
05:51Four hours on Netflix by Ridley Scott's company.
05:54Yeah, I need all of this for the wind behind my sails
05:57for the third act of my career.
06:00How did you feel about the costumes you had to wear
06:02during your Take That years?
06:03You know, beggars can't be choosers.
06:06I wasn't paid to have opinions.
06:09I wasn't paid at all.
06:10For the first 18 months, Nigel, don't sue me.
06:12We all know that's true.
06:14After that, whee!
06:16Do you think the Gallagher brothers will actually make it to the stage
06:19for their reunion?
06:20Yes, I do think that the Gallagher's will make it to their reunion
06:25and not only get to the reunion, complete the whole thing.
06:30Divorces make you concentrate, don't they?
06:32Who is the most underrated 90s artist?
06:35Gaz Coons from Supergrass,
06:37one of the best songwriters of his generation.
06:39Who is the most overrated 90s artist?
06:43Don't think there are many overrated 90s artists.
06:48You say Britpop and it sounds as though there was hundreds of bands
06:52in your mind.
06:53There wasn't.
06:53Oasis,
06:55Blur,
06:56Pulp.
06:56The ones that popped were these three.
06:59If you could only save one,
07:00which of your albums from your vast discography
07:02would you save from a burning building?
07:04Well, the only one that I listen to is the Christmas album.
07:07It's not a Christmas for us unless I'm narcissistically playing me
07:11around my house.
07:14Please explain why you store all your Instagram captions like this.
07:17Well, integritas e cacas is integrity and sh** in Latin.
07:23Pleasantries.
07:24There was a reason for that and I've forgotten.
07:26I think it was when you get on the phone.
07:28Hey, how are you?
07:29I'm good. How are you?
07:30We could dispense with that.
07:32I'm on the spectrum and phone calls are terrible for me.
07:34I don't like making phone calls.
07:36Hail Keanu.
07:37I had this competition where in this future world,
07:40all evil has gone and all bad has gone.
07:43And which celebrity would you most like to dispense with more good news?
07:48And Keanu Reeves won.
07:50So hail Keanu.
07:52I'm Robbie Williams.
07:53What you've heard in this interview will be in a few tabloids.
07:58Good reading.