Why Robbie Williams couldn't crack America as new biopic fails to impress US audience

The former Take That star's new biopic has had US film fans questioning 'who he is', after he failed to build his music legacy stateside

Robbie Williams has built a glittering music career here in the UK, both as a solo artist and alongside his former Take That bandmates.

Yet despite 14 number one albums, a net worth estimated at £150m and 18 Brits Awards to his name, it seems Robbie has failed to make an impact in the US.

As the singer's new biopic was released on Boxing Day, it's highlighted that the Angels singer is relatively unknown in America compared to his recognisable fame here in the UK. His new film, Better Man, sees Robbie being portrayed as a CGI chimpanzee, with Jonno Davies acting the movements of the chimp.

Yet the biopic hasn't quite been a big hit in the US with American film fans left confused over who Robbie is, and why he's a monkey in the new release.

With US fans giving poor reviews of Better Man, it's disappointing after director Michael Gracey previously said he hoped the film would be a hit with the US. A source told The Mirror in 2022: "Early indications are that it may really cut through to US audiences, not least as the people in place on it have such pedigree. Movie chiefs think the script – essentially a stirring story about an underdog catapulted to fame – will really resonate with people, even those in America who may not know much about Robbie himself."

During his career, Robbie did try to emulate his musical success in the US after building up a huge career in the UK. His first try at cracking the US music market came three years after he launched his solo career, when in 1999 he signed with Capitol Records with the bid to be a hit in America.

At the time, editor of Music Week magazine Steve Redmond told The Wall Street Journal: "I think Robbie Williams is the best shot Britain has right now [of cracking America]. Capitol Records is spending a lot of time setting him up. They're consciously avoiding a campaign of U.K. hype; we've been there before, and it hasn't delivered."

However it didn't turn out as successful as he hoped, despite releasing his album The Ego Has Landed and heading out on a 25-date tour covering North America. Instead Robbie's trademark cheeky antics and tongue in cheek humour saw American music fans distance themselves from the singer.

In Robbie's tell-all documentary for Netflix, clips from his performances across the US show various radio hosts and broadcasters discussing how Robbie's humour didn't land with the US. One claimed they "didn't get his cheeky humour, which is very British" whilst another added: "We don't get all the jokes about his bum."

Responding in the documentary, Robbie commented: "They had zero understanding or knowledge of who I was and that was deeply uncomfortable. I was this Northern English bloke and there was a disconnect. I appeared to be a bit resentful."

In a radio interview at the end of the 90s, Robbie explained: "America kind of scares me because it's so f***ing big. I'd really love to break it here and sell a lot of records and p**s a lot of people off back home. That's what I want to do."

Despite his 1999 attempt flopping, Robbie didn't let that put him off trying again in the US in 2003. That year, the singer signed a reported £120m deal with EMI Records for his next six albums. A music critic wrote for Salon at the time: "In the U.K. Robbie is a the king of karaoke pop, on a chart full of karaoke pop acts. But in his adopted home of L.A. every schmuck waiting their turn in a karaoke bar on a Tuesday evening is a better singer. In Britain his lack of great talent is seen as democratic and reassuring; in America it's probably just uninspiring."

Robbie hasn't focused his efforts on the US since 2003, and even split from EMI Records choosing to focus his efforts back at home in the UK. For the odd gig in the US, Robbie has revealed it takes work to make himself known as he told Esquire: "I did a residency at the Wynn in Vegas, and because North America is not acquainted with what I do pervasively, I had to sell myself to the people who book the acts. I was like: Mate, I’m a swear-y Frank Sinatra with tattoos."

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