Brian May Thinks Rami Malek Deserves An Oscar For Freddie Mercury Performance In ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’
The highly-anticipated Queen biopic has hit theaters, and despite mediocre reviews from critics, the film has been killing it at the box office. None has been lauded more than actor Rami Malek, who took up the monumental role of the band’s lead singer Freddie Mercury.
According to the Irish Examiner, Queen guitarist Brian May has heaped praise on Malek’s incredible performance, already touting the 37-year-old actor for a win at next year’s Academy Awards.
May called Malek’s portrayal of Mercury “remarkable,” and even admitted he was starting to mistake him for his late bandmate.
“He’s incredible… 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. We’ve lived with this project for nine years and it’s incredible to see it doing so well.”
May also criticized the poor reviews the film had received, but profusely thanked the public for braving those reviews and embracing the movie anyway.
The 71-year-old served as a creative and musical consultant for the movie and was greatly involved with the process from the very beginning, years before there were public whispers of a film.
“He deserves an Oscar”: Brian May praises Rami Malek’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ performance https://t.co/yBOdoiior0 pic.twitter.com/DW7e2k0HHC
— NME (@NME) November 23, 2018
For Malek’s part, the more he played the role of the legendary Freddie Mercury, the more he wanted to know about the great man, and the more research he put into his character, trying to become the Queen frontman.
“There’s just an eloquence and elegance to him that you can see when he’s on stage and then you can see where all that was birthed from. 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,” Malek explained.
Earlier this year, a team of researchers from Austria, Czech Republic, and Sweden found Mercury to have been the greatest singer of all time, according to Unilad. The study uncovered some incredible facts about Mercury’s voice but did not confirm the urban legend that his voice range spans four full octaves.
May also praised Gwilym Lee, who portrayed him in the film, saying Lee also deserved awards for his performance. As far as May is concerned, everyone working on the film both in front of and behind the cameras gave 200 percent throughout the entire production.
