Rami Malek has earned many plaudits for his astonishing portrayal of Freddie Mercury in the biographic movie Bohemian Rhapsody. Indeed, Queen guitarist Brian May went so far as to say he believes Malek deserves an Oscar for his performance, which is incredibly precise and eerily reminiscent of the virtuosic singer.
This viral Twitter video shows just how incredibly accurate Malek's portrayal of Freddie Mercury was during a scene echoing Queen's now legendary performance at Live Aid in 1985.
As one Twitter user summed up, "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),"
Malek says that he watched Queen's original performance of that show more than 1,500 times in preparation for the role, and the dedication surely paid off. As he describes in an interview;
"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."
Now, Malek has revealed the moment he met Freddie Mercury's sister while he was in full hair and makeup as a young Mercury from the 1970's;
"I met his sister. She got to see me as a young Freddie with long hair and the teeth, make-up, the whole 1970s, early glam-rock look.
"As you can imagine it was an incredibly bizarre, alien moment for her."
He also revealed that she later wrote to him, describing the seal of approval she gave him as "everything".
"Later on, it was a very emotional moment. On a serious note, she wrote me the most moving email. It was very powerful.
"To get that vote of appreciation from the people who were closest to him was everything for me."
And Freddie Mercury's sister is far from the only one who was blown away by Rami Malek's portrayal of the legendary singer. Queen guitarist Brian May believes that the actor is worthy of an Oscar for his performance;
"He's incredible as well, without doubt he'll be on the nominations list for an Oscar and well deserved as well.
"He inhabited Freddie to the point where we even started to think of him as Freddie. Really remarkable."
It is wonderful that such an iconic figure in the world of rock music has been remembered in such excellent fashion, and now a whole new generation of fans will be able to go back and see Freddie Mercury in action for the first time.
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