A Derbyshire actor has taken on a unique leading role representing Robbie Williams in his new film. Jonno Davies, 32, originally from Chesterfield, has taken up the part of the lead actor in the film “Better Man”- an accurate account of the meteoric rise and fall of the popular British pop star, but with the added twist of the lead being a CGI chimpanzee.
The Derbyshire actor best known for his role as Alex Delarge in the stage production of A Clock Work Orange has been rising to fame over the past few years, appearing in productions ranging from Hunters to Hollyoaks and Holby City.
While Davies was born in Chesterfield, he grew up in Milton Keynes. He attended Bedford School between 2001 and 2010 before starting his acting career at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, from which he graduated in 2013.
The musical biopic follows the life of the pop star from a young age, with Davies voice acting and acting in a motion capture suit to portray William’s mannerisms and personality from the age of 15 onwards.
So who is the Derbyshire-born actor in the new biopic?
Previously, Davies has said that he has always dreamed of playing Robbie Williams, as he is his childhood hero. In an exclusive interview about the new movie, Davies said that he has had some “magical moments” of improvisation with the director Micheal Gracey, who is most famous for The Greatest Showman.
In a cast interview shared on YouTube by Behind the Clapperboard, Jonno said: “I loved every minute of it, I grew up wanting to do musical theatre and wanting to be a pop star.. So to have that moment with the mic doing the flip it was a dream.
“People, when I was telling them I got this role, the first thing was their ears would prick up at Micheal Gracey, the director of The Greatest Showman. He’s such a collaborator, the scenes we have done so far, he has his vision, he has a plan and a layout and almost a blueprint for all the scenes, but he is more than willing for you to riff and to play and if I have an impulse, he is the first person to be like follow it and let’s see where it goes, and we have had some magical moments from that.”
Jonno Davies has been in a relationship with Rachel Bright, best known for playing Poppy Meadow in Eastenders, since 2014. The Derbyshire-born actor has also appeared in Silent Witness, Casualty, Kingsman: The Secret Service, Hunters, Spotless, and King of Crime.
Jonno continued: “I think people who don’t know his music are gonna be introduced to a whole new style for them, and the people who do know his music are going to be reminded how brilliant it is with a whole new context and a whole new setting and hopefully for them it’s like listening to it for the first time.”
The new biopic, produced by the Williams himself, first premiered in the UK’s cinemas on December 26, 2024, and has since received praise from critics, with a score of 90% on Rotten Tomatoes and 7.7 on IMDb.