Machine Gun Kelly offers himself as muse in Berlinale semi-biopic 'Taurus'

[February 14, 2022]    By Alexander Kloss

(Reuters) - Colson Baker, the actor better known as rapper-turned-rockstar Machine Gun Kelly, said he hoped his semi-autobiographical film about the final days of Cole, a troubled rapper, would inspire others with turbulent lives.

In "Taurus", director Tim Sutton teamed up with Baker for a film that blurs reality and fiction, casting Baker as Cole, in a study of superstardom and its pitfalls. The similarities between Baker and Cole are certainly no coincidence.

"We almost were shying away from it being autobiographical," he told a news conference at the Berlin Film Festival. "It felt like ... it just became me."

Like Baker in his earlier career, Cole is successful but struggles with substance abuse. Maddie Hasson plays Ilana, the protagonist's personal assistant, who tries to keep him on track while enduring his manic episodes.

But between skipped meetings, constant drunkenness and cocaine addiction, Cole's life spirals out of control. And the film was the therapy he never had, Baker said.

"I got to have ... on-screen therapy for things that I never really dealt with," said Baker, who previously worked with Sutton on the 2021 Western "The Last Son".

Baker's fiancee Megan Fox makes a brief appearance in the film, playing Cole's ex-wife.

The film's production title was "Good News", but the new title was chosen to match Baker's star sign.

"I'm more hoping that people can watch it and I'm the muse for someone to find their own inspiration and finding a will to live," he said.

(Reporting by Alexander Kloss; Editing by Thomas Escritt and David Goodman)

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