Taron Egerton sees Rocketman as a turning point in his career.
The 36-year-old actor played Sir Elton John in Rocketman, the 2019 biographical musical-drama film, and Taron has explained how the movie changed the course of his career.
He told the BBC: "Rocketman was a time in my life where I really felt a sense of being able to expand into my own creativity.
"Prior to then, I felt the model of a leading man in film should be kind of unimpeachable and perfect and slightly veneered, and playing Elton, the way the character was written on the page, it was all about shadow – your fallibility, the things that you're scared that you are, and the things that you're scared you aren't."
Taron admitted that Rocketman changed his own perception of himself, too.
The actor said: "It was a really important step on my journey to realising that the things that you perceive about yourself to be your weaknesses actually end up being your greatest strength."
Meanwhile, Taron previously rubbished suggestions that he could play James Bond, insisting that he's too "messy" for the role.
The actor has been tipped to replace Daniel Craig as 007 - but Taron believes there are "so many cool, younger actors" who would be better suited to the role.
Asked about the possibility of playing Bond, he told Collider: "I don't think I'm a good choice for it. I think I'm too messy for that.
"I think I'm not— I really love James Bond and particularly Daniel Craig's tenure. But I think I wouldn't be good at it, and I think there's so many cool, younger actors who would be great for it. I think it would be wasted on me, probably."
Taron observed that leading the Bond franchise is "quite an undertaking". And he suggested that the scale of the project might not suit him, either.
He explained: "That's not to say that I don't have aspirations and plans and also that I wouldn't be interested in doing something that's more commercial, because of course I would. I think I'm in a period in my life where, as you say, I've been probably following the things that speak to me on a creative level a little bit more, but, you know, I'm sure I won't feel that way forever.
"But James Bond is quite an undertaking and I think, one, as far as I'm aware, nobody's asking me to do it."