When Elton John was on tour in America during the 1970s, there was someone on TV who caught his eye.

Elton John’s musical about televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker is coming to Broadway from London.

That was a crime drama about a New York Times journalist and accused killer; this is a biopic of the late, great Judy Garland (played onscreen by Rene Zellweger). But I do remember being in my kitchen before I'd even met Rene thinking, "Rene Zellweger as Judy Garland... What's that going to be like? And so, in some ways Rene's accuracy to Judy Garland was less important to me than her emotional arc was for the film. Or did it end up feeling like you were directing Judy Garland? Naturally, when you make a movie about someone like Judy Garland, there's going to be a lot of prejudgment from the public.

There's a stretch in Judy, a short bit in the middle of the biopic, when it stops being about Judy Garland and becomes about the people for whom Judy Garland meant -- and means -- so much. The films sees a near-destitute Judy (Rene Zellweger) take to 1960s London for a five-week engagement performing at a swanky supper club. Unwilling to let their star go hungry, they ask Judy back to their flat for an omelet. Soon after, Stan falls asleep on the couch and Judy and Dan stay up playing cards. It's a moment that never happened in real life -- "It was our imagination," Goold explains -- but is simultaneously beautiful and heartbreaking, nonetheless.

By 1968, when the biopic takes place, Liza was a star in her own right, and in the sequence Judy offhandedly asks her if she's nervous about opening an upcoming show. "In an earlier draft, Liza [also] turned up in London," director Rupert Goold tells ET. (This is actually the second time "Liza" has appeared onscreen this year, following Kelli Barrett's portrayal in FX's Fosse/Verdon.) "Not that Liza has been hostile to the movie, particularly, but I have every faith that she'll see it and find it celebratory." RELATED CONTENT:Renee Zellweger Opens Up About Blazing Her Own Trail in Hollywood (Exclusive)Hear Rene Zellweger Sing 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' in New 'Judy' TrailerRenee Zellweger Reveals Her Biggest Struggle While Transforming Into Judy Garland (Exclusive)