David Furnish Was 'Shocked' and 'Taken Aback' to Hear Husband Elton John Say He Wanted Kids in Archival Interview (Exclusive)

The couple is parents to sons Elijah, 11, and Zachary, 13

David Furnish could not believe what he heard his husband Elton John say in an interview before they met.

While chatting with PEOPLE at the New York Film Festival premiere of Elton John: Never Too Late on Tuesday, Oct. 1, Furnish, 61, shared that before the couple welcomed sons Elijah, 11, and Zachary, 13, he didn't think the "I'm Still Standing" singer, 77, wanted to have kids.

"I was shocked to hear [John] say in 1976 that he wanted to have children, because when I met him in 1993, he didn't think it would be appropriate for him with his life to have children," Furnish, who co-directs the documentary with R.J. Cutler, exclusively tells PEOPLE.

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Related: Elton John's Kids ‘Worry About My Mortality’ at 77: 'I Don't Think I'm Going to Be Around for' Big Life Moments

"He thought he was too busy, working too much, living abroad. He said, 'I'm too self-obsessed to be a parent,' whereas I always wanted to have children," he continues.

Furnish says he believes their bond and equal commitment to each other is what eventually convinced John to start a family.

Related: Elton John Jokes 'There's Not Much of Me Left' Before Listing His Missing Organs: 'But I'm Still Here'

"I think when you're in a relationship with someone, you both have to be equally committed," he begins. "And it wasn't until many years later when Elton kind of had that epiphany and thought, 'Actually, I think it's time, I'm ready to be a dad.' "

He adds, "But I hadn't realized that seed was planted a long time ago. I thought it was something he was always against. So, when I heard this one interview that he does, which I've never heard before and he says 'I love kids. I want to have kids.' I was, I was quite taken aback."

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Cutler, who was also an executive producer on the Elton John Live: Farewell from Dodger Stadium concert movie, opened up to PEOPLE in the same interview about the way Furnish's relationship to John enriched the process of making the documentary.

"David brought great wisdom, great passion, a great storyteller's sense of story and a big open heart that was curious about this man he knew so deeply," the co-director shares. "It was a quite thrilling collaboration. And also we each brought a central concept of what the movie became because it was David, who said to me the first time we met, 'Do you think there's a film to be made about the final months of Elton touring before he retires from touring?' And I said, 'Do you think there's a movie to be made about those first five years of Elton's career that were so significant, but during which he had the particular struggles that he had.' And together we, in that moment, kind of realized the concept of the film."

In the documentary, John details that his two children have expressed fears about his death.

"They think about my mortality. They worry about my mortality," the music icon says in the film, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on Friday, Sept. 6.

"Not so much David, but me," the "Rocket Man" crooner continued, referencing Furnish.

According to John, his two sons "love their daddy, so they want me to be around forever, [and] I would love to be around forever."

Related: Elton John Jokes 'There's Not Much of Me Left' Before Listing His Missing Organs: 'But I'm Still Here'

The documentary spans the earlier years of John's career into his final performance at Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles in November 2022.

"As he bids farewell to his fans in a historic send-off unlike any other, he journeys back in time to his humble beginnings as a struggling musician who must overcome adversity, abuse, and addiction in order to become the icon he is today," the official synopsis for the film reads.

"Packed with all of his greatest hits, as well as lesser-known gems from the 70s and unseen footage from Elton’s personal archives, this intimate and emotionally-charged story gives a front row seat to music history: Elton’s groundbreaking performance at the Troubadour Club in 1970, writing 'Tiny Dancer,' playing live with John Lennon in Lennon’s last ever public performance."

Elton John: Never Too Late will have a limited theater run in the U.S. and U.K. starting Nov. 15. It premieres on Disney+ on Dec. 13.

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