FREDDIE MERCURY MOVIE 10 years to make film will rock you
production stopped again. Producers, directors and cast members changed over and over again as Brian strived for perfection.
But it was only in 2017 that the film really came together.
Lucy Boynton, 24, plays Freddie’s long-term girlfriend Mary Austin. The actors’ on-set chemistry was fuelled by the romance they reportedly struck up off camera.
Brian explains: “Rami and Lucy are going to break hearts. Its legacy will hopefully be something wonderful – a new portrayal of the spirit of those moments in a way that could never be achieved from documentary footage.
“The entire Bohemian Rhapsody company has been through storms which would have sunk many a ship, but they’re all still on board, full of optimism – and a team spirit stronger than ever. There’s such a great feeling of pride in this movie.” But what would Freddie think? Brian’s actress wife Anita Dobson, 69, laughs as she chips in: “If Freddie was here now, he would have his arms crossed and he would be going, ‘Bitch’!”
The film shines a new light into Freddie’s romance with Mary, now 67 and a recluse still living in the vast West London mansion where he died in 1991. Freddie once said: “All my lovers asked me why they couldn’t replace Mary, but it’s simply impossible. The only friend I’ve got is Mary and I don’t want anybody else.
“To me, she was my commonlaw wife. To me, it was a marriage.
“I couldn’t fall in love with a man the same way as I have with Mary.”
Brian admits that Freddie still provides a strong influence in everything that Queen do.
He adds: “Freddie is very much alive to us and he is with us in a very positive way. I feel him around a lot. I don’t want to be too mystical about it but he is very much a part of what we do. You can always imagine what he would say.
“He always had this wicked smile and would always try to puncture the argument you would try to make. He had a great sense of humour and not a lot of people outside our circle knew that.”
Queen still perform huge gigs and sell out stadiums – with Adam Lambert, 36, taking on Freddie’s role to huge plaudits.
And despite his own advancing years, Brian says that he wants to play forever. He adds: “I am all in favour of doing this until I drop. There are no rules. With us and the Stones there are no click tracks. There are no back-up discs.
“We still play music the way we did when we started. We don’t need the money.
“We don’t need to be famous but for some reason we are drawn to it. And it makes us happy.”