Anyone who has seen Bohemian Rhapsody knows that Rami Malek's performance is truly stunning.
However, a viral video recently helped viewers to discover just how astonishingly accurate the actor's portrayal of Freddie Mercury really is.
The footage in question puts the legendary singer's performance at Live Aid in 1985 next to Malek's reconstruction of it in the film. Watching it, viewers can see that every single hand movement, purse of the lips, head tilt, step and gesture exactly replicate that of Mercury's - and the comparison has well and truly blown people's minds.
After witnessing the work that was put into the new version, people took to social media to express their amazement.
"These dudes were literally able to recreate the greatest live show ever performed and made a new generation be able to experience it as if they were actually there. This scene literally gave me f**king CHILLS god damnit (sic)," wrote @ruggeddonut.
He was joined by @IAmIknat who claimed that she became unsure which was which while watching. "They did it precisely that I got confused which is the original and which is the remake," she tweeted. "Omg not a sucker for him but daaaang this sure is historical!!! Gotta watch this (sic)".
Malek has spoken about filming the Live Aid performance before, claiming he watched the original more than 1,500 times and even had the recording on set with him to assure he had it perfect.
However, during an interview with news.co.au, Malek spoke about how things could never be completely perfect.
"It felt like I had it in my bones and I didn't want to keep going back to it," he said. "It felt like sometimes you would lose a little bit of the authenticity if you tried to nail it so perfectly. Things won't exactly always match up, there might be a hint of something that's off, but I think that kept it feeling really alive and in the moment and it was better to sacrifice it that way, but yeah, I was watching it non-stop."
He continued: "That’s something we tried to get move for move, even just gesture for gesture perfectly. Every day we did (filmed) a song. Day one, Bohemian. Day two, Radio Gaga. Day three, Hammer To Fall and the Day-O. Four we did Crazy Little Thing Called Love. Five, We Will Rock You and We Are The Champions and on the sixth day we rested. Then we did the entire show which was the most phenomenal experience one could ever ask for. Adrenaline high like you don’t even know man."
In addition, in an interview with Who, Malek said that he "instinctually [wanted] to discover more” about Mercury as soon as he starting preparing for the movie.
“There’s just an eloquence and elegance to him that you see when he’s on stage, and then you can [see] where all that was birthed from," he claimed. "I mean, not many artists are wearing an entire head-to-toe leather outfit, sipping a champagne flute and telling their audience to strip naked if they please. And he still comes off with this essence of royalty."
Freddie Mercury might be rock royalty, but with this role, Rami Malek has certainly established himself as one of the best actors out there.
