Saltburn's Archie Madekwe Will NOT Release A Cover of Rent No Matter How Much We All Want It

There are lots of standout moments in Saltburn, from the drinking of bathwater to the humping of graves. 

But one scene that seems to have attracted a lot of attention on TikTok recently is the karaoke scene, which occurs about halfway through the movie.

Intending to humiliate him for staying for free with the wealthy Catton family over the summer, Archie Madekwe’s character Farleigh instructs Barry Keoghan’s Oliver to sing the song Rent by The Pet Shop Boys.

Oliver doesn’t know the song, but soon realises he’s been set up when the lyrics to the chorus appear on the screen in front of him: “I love you, you pay my rent”. He subsequently hands over the microphone to Farleigh, telling him to finish the song.

What happens next only goes on for about six seconds, but Saltburn fans have been going wild for it online.

Farleigh takes over and sings about 12 words of the synth-pop duo’s 1987 hit from their second album, Actually. It’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, but several TikToks have emerged over the last week or so using the sound and lauding Madekwe’s singing. Check out the scene for yourself...

In fact, the brief performance has had viewers so enraptured that they’ve apparently flooded the English actor’s Instagram DMs to request a full cover of the song.

Unfortunately, we’ve got bad news for all who deeply desire a Madekwe version of Rent (myself included) – he won’t be recording one any time soon.

The Gran Turismo star posted to his Instagram stories a photo of himself with the caption: “Official statement: I have no plan to record a full studio version of Rent. Apologies and thanks for the DM’s xx”.

Despite this, an ever-increasing amount of videos across media (each with millions of views) are calling for Madekwe to release his own cover of Rent, so perhaps it’s only a matter of time before we get one?!

For now, please enjoy Madekwe performing the song acoustically (and briefly) in this YouTube video from Prime Video (it starts at 01.28)...