Tim Sutton ’92 premieres new film, ‘Taurus,’ starring Machine Gun Kelly
Just days before their new film, ‘Taurus’ premiered at the Berlin Film Festival Feb. 13, writer and director Tim Sutton ’92 and star Colson Baker—better known to fans as Machine Gun Kelly—sat down with Variety’s K.J. Yossman to discuss the film and how they brought Sutton’s idea to life.
Sutton conceived of “Taurus,” a semi-autobiographical story of a rap-and-rock star on a path of self-destruction, while working with Baker on another movie, “The Last Son.” While hanging out during some down time, Baker recalls Sutton said to him, “If you ever do a documentary on yourself, or make a movie, you have to let me make it.”
Initial drafts of the script borrowed from other entertainers who had died young, but Sutton worked with Baker to include more of his own life during rewrites.
“What I wanted was the sense of authenticity and the sense of comfort, and also giving [Baker] the space to be this character, this character that’s both him and a fictional character all at once,” Sutton told Variety.
Sutton also said he drew inspiration from another famous musician: Mozart.
“You have Mozart, who’s like, one of the greatest rock stars of all time,” he said. “All he really wants to do is just make his music and everything gets in the way until he decides to write his own requiem. That’s the movie.”
