Photo: Billboard
“That side of me is where I always felt more comfortable,” explained Machine Gun Kelly.
Machine Gun Kelly is starring in an upcoming semi-autobiographical film that hits close to home.
Taurus is the semi-autobiographical tale of a rap-slash-rock star with self-destructive tendencies. It is set to premiere at the Berlin Film Festival on February 13. Machine Gun Kelly will play as Cole, a musician struggling with fatherhood, the music industry, substance abuse, and his ex-wife, who is played by his real-life fiance, Megan Fox.
The film’s writer and director, Tim Sutton, revealed in an interview with Variety that the film was conceived after he directed The Last Son, in which Machine Gun Kelly played a 19th-century bank robber. Kelly recalled that the idea was born out at a time when they were smoking a joint in Sutton’s on-set living quarters. Tim Sutton said, “If you ever do a documentary on yourself or make a movie, you have to let me make it.” Kelly agreed, and a few weeks later, Sutton sent over a script.
Although the first drafts of the script speak volumes of the stories of rappers who died young, such as Lil Peep and Mac Miller, Tim Sutton revealed that after countless revisions, Machine Gun Kelly’s own experiences were later infused into it, making the film a semi-autobiography of his own. Tim shared, “What I wanted was the sense of authenticity and the sense of comfort, and also giving [Kelly] the space to be this character, this character that’s both him and a fictional character all at once.”
When asked whether the film truly reflected his character and disposition, Machine Gun Kelly responded, “I was always asking God why I kept missing the bullet that is death.” He added, “With all of the drugs that I would do, with all of the strangers who have nothing but their own selfish interests in mind when, you know, giving me things or encouraging a downfall mixed in with my own self-inflicted will to sabotage myself. So that was not necessarily—it wasn’t even a character [in “Taurus”]. That was just me getting a chance to actually be me.”
On recalling his misfortunes that were being portrayed in the film, Machine Gun Kelly did not seem bothered with reliving his past. As a matter of fact, he explained that he was comfortable with it. “That side of me is where I always felt more comfortable,” Baker said. “I’d much rather watch someone [for whom that self-destruction] is second nature than to watch some actor pretend. There’s nothing more annoying than watching a thespian fake being a rock star. It’s the worst.”
Despite the fact that “Taurus” is a reflection of Machine Gun Kelly’s vulnerable side, the rockstar remains optimistic about the film. “I would feel more exposed if I was playing a character,” he said. “I am not doing it for someone who’s there to cast an opinion. I’m doing it for someone who needs to relate. I’ve had films guide my life, save my life, change the trajectory of my life—because I saw something that made me relate. This film is for the ones who are trapped and in need of a vessel to be something or to have a realization or to have a course or find a connection.”
