Ahead of Bohemian Rhapsody‘s release, actor Rami Malek assured fans that the long-awaited biopic of the famous Queen frontman would not ignore his sexuality or private life. Judging by the film itself, however, some people perceived that surviving members of the band, who consulted on the project, had decided that they wanted the movie to tell Mercury’s story while also downplaying the private-life moments. So while Bohemian Rhapsody is now the second-highest grossing music biopic ever, and while Malek’s performance is great, some weren’t too happy.
In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Malek addressed these concerns in as diplomatic a manner as possible. The matter specifically came up when THR asked the actor if there was “anything they didn’t want to show or didn’t want to be part of this story.” Malek’s response?
“They would love to deliver the entire Freddie Mercury story, but we have two hours. And in those two hours I know that those men want to celebrate Freddie’s life, and there was definitely a cognizant effort not to make this a hedonistic, salacious film. I think we all would have loved to show more of Freddie’s relationship with Jim [Hutton] toward the end of his life. That relationship is absolutely gorgeous, and if I had it my way, boy, would I love to tack on another hour to this film and fill in a few gaps. It’s never going to be perfect in fulfilling the story of a man who we could make countless documentaries about and countless miniseries about.”
“I know there’s always going to be polarizing aspects to this film. There’s no way around it,” he added. “You can do the other version of this film, but we needed to focus on a finite period of time.” Malek concluded the point by saying that Mercury, and people in general, are “just so much more than their sexuality — it’s not a label that defines who a person is or who they’re going to be.” Whether Bohemian Rhapsody‘s detractors will agree or not, however, remains to be seen.
(Via The Hollywood Reporter)
