The team behind Elton John’s musical biopic Rocketman didn’t expect to get so emotional during the movie’s Cannes Film Festival premiere Thursday evening. But then again, director Dexter Fletcher and star Taron Egerton hadn’t predicted the heart-bursting potential of watching their whimsical portrayal of John’s career and long-running friendship with lyricist Bernie Taupin spool out on-screen . . . while sitting next to the actual Elton John and Bernie Taupin.

The Palais premiere was the first time that John and Taupin had seen the film in full—“I’m a virgin until tonight,” John had cracked beforehand. Bryce Dallas Howard, who plays John’s mother Shiela, said at the next day’s press conference that she “was able to hear Elton crying, just a few seats away from us.” Egerton and Fletcher had watched the movie partially slanted toward John and Taupin, so they could watch the duo’s reactions in real time. “We saw [Bernie and Elton], every five minutes, grabbing each other’s knee and reminiscing.” That they “were moved by this iteration of the story,” said Egerton, “It’s the greatest.” After the Rocketman closing credits rolled and the theater lights went up, the film received an electric, four-minute standing ovation; cameras captured Elton John and Taron Egerton sharing a tearful embrace.

The next day, at the Rocketman press conference, the moderator began by noting that Taron was so visibly moved by the film’s reception that he was “like, crying.”

“Alright, alright, let’s stop talking about it,” the actor said bashfully of his reaction, which had gone viral on social media. “I got a bit emotional,” he conceded before continuing solemnly. “It was one of the best days of my life. We’ve worked really hard to make something that we’re both really proud of. It’s not your typical biopic. We don’t deal with the songs in a chronological order. There are elements of fantasy. We take some license with the truth . . . the response has been so wonderful. . .You’ve made a young man from Aberystwyth just incredibly happy.” As for Elton John, Egerton said, “You’ve made a 72-year-old rock star even more happy.”

“We have this enormous privilege of being able to celebrate Bernie and Elton while they’re alive and well and performing,” pointed out Howard. The night before, John and Egerton celebrated the Rocketman premiere by taking literal center stage at an elaborate after-party on the beach. It was a celebration with nostalgic significance for John, who performed on the very same Cannes sand—opposite the Intercontinental Carlton—while filming his 1983 music video for “I’m Still Standing.” (The song also closes the film—with Egerton recreating John’s 80s-tastic video.)

Onstage in his trademark glitz—rose-colored, heart-shaped sunglasses and a blazer with sequins spelling out “Rocketman” on the back—John praised Egerton’s performance. “When I watch the movie, I don’t see an actor,” he told partygoers. “I see myself. And that is an extraordinary thing for an actor to do. He has given a million percent of him in this performance.” John performed “I’m Still Standing” solo, before welcoming Egerton onstage for a “Rocketman” duet.

“The fact that Elton performed last night, and performed with Taron,” Howard said at the press conference, “This is a privilege—because normally, when you’re telling the story of someone’s life, they’re gone. And [after the film], there was none of that loss. It was only celebration at the end.”

Unlike Bohemian Rhapsody, last year’s musical biopic about Freddie Mercury to which Rocketman will (and has already) been compared, Rocketman includes scenes that frankly depict John’s sex life, drug use, and occasional diva antics. Fletcher, who stepped in to finish Bohemian Rhapsody after credited director Bryan Singer was fired by the studio, confirmed that Elton John did not attempt to censor his story in any way—“Nothing was off limits.”

“Our primary concern and mandate was to tell a story that didn’t . . . deify Elton or make him flawless or perfect,” explained Egerton. “We wanted to tell a human story. Elton is an extraordinary human but he’s still a human. That’s why you see the [lows] as well as the peaks. It was a risk on many levels and we’ve been very fortunate to have a brave studio work with us to achieve that. Elton—not a lot makes him blush. He’s very at peace with us telling the story in that way.”

Added Fletcher, “He didn’t want [the film] to be self-serving. There’s no upside for him in that . . . I think that’s one of his great strengths . . . There was nowhere that I couldn’t shine a light. There was no dark corner where he was like, ‘Don’t go!’”

Egerton has been a longtime Elton John fan—so much so that he sang John’s 1970 single “Your Song” at his audition at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. When this point was brought up at the press conference, Egerton grew teary again—“I can’t believe it. I’m gonna go again!”

To prepare to play John, Egerton said that the legendary musician gave him unlimited access. “I was able to spend a lot of time with him and talk to him about everything,” Egerton said, revealing that John even invited him and his girlfriend to stay at his house for a few days, where they “got quite drunk one night” (without John, who’s been sober for 28 years) and at one point were caught raiding the musician’s kitchen at 3 A.M. “He’s allowed me to get to know him away from the pomp and ceremony of his life,” Egerton said. “And being able to get under his skin in that way was really helpful.”

Before seeing the film, John had spoken to Good Morning America from Cannes, noting that Rocketman charts his rising success and parallel fall into drug and sex addiction.

“The story is about someone who is deeply troubled by their success and their personal life falls by the wayside,” John said, noting that he hopes audience members grappling with similar demons might be inspired to work on themselves. “The story is about redemption, asking for help, realizing that your behavior is so asinine, so stupid, and so horrible, that you have become ashamed of yourself . . . I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life like that. And I wanted to become a good person—the person I never knew. I had to go back in time and do a lot of work on myself, and it’s all been worth it . . . The message is, if you’re in a bad way, ask for help . . . It really is so difficult to do that sometimes, but when I did that, a lot of help came my way, and my life since I became sober has been the most amazing journey.”

Egerton declined to reveal specifics about what John told him after seeing the film, but told press, “I am very proud to say that I think he is really pleased.”

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