...but his appearance was cut

Rob Delaney has revealed that he played Elvis Presley  in the Elton John biopic Rocketman – but his performance wound up on the cutting-room floor.

The comedian and Catastrophe co-creator also told how he was stuck with jet-black dyed for months after the performance that film-goers will never see.

Speaking on his BBC Radio 6 Music show yesterday he urged listeners to see the film, ‘even though I'm not in the final cut’.

The 42-year-old said: ‘I did shoot a couple scenes in the film as a guy named Elvis Presley, who you may have heard of, and they even dyed my hair black for it.

‘In the make-up trailer they said: "Do you want the temporary dye or the permanent?" I was like, 'temporary please', and they put in the permanent by mistake, so it was black for six months after.’

Delaney said that he wasn’t bitter about being cut as ‘that's just the way the ball bounces sometimes’ – adding: ‘"I know when Sharon Horgan and I were making Catastrophe, we would frequently cut out things that we really enjoyed, just for time, so I bear no ill-will towards the makers of Rocketman.’

Elton John was a long-time fan of Elvis, who grew up miming to The King’s records in his bedroom.

John finally saw Presley perform in  Largo, Maryland, on June 27, 1976 – then when  backstage to meet him. He apparently offered to write a song for him and suggested a duet , although nothing came of it.  But according to one report of the meeting John was disappointed to see his hero in a ‘complete drug haze’ in his declining days.

Published: 17 Jun 2019