BRIAN’S SECRETS FROM THE SET
Queen guitarist Brian May says the band initially didn’t want to make the film. ‘From time to time we’d been approached about making a movie about Freddie’s life, but we’d always resisted,’ says Brian. ‘Around 2009 we realised if we didn’t do it, someone else would, and the only way to ensure that the result did him justice was to supervise it ourselves.
And so began our eight-year quest.’ Brian’s wife, actress Anita Dobson, says Freddie Mercury would have loved Rami Malek’s performance as the singer. ‘I saw a rough copy of the film early on and since then they’ve been twiddling with quite a few bits and pieces. Brian said to me: “Take notes, take notes if you have any” and I sat there with a pad and pencil and three minutes in, I put them on the floor and I was just in it, it’s wonderful. ‘Rami is just amazing as Freddie. I think Freddie would have loved him.
He makes Fred come alive to the point where it’s very emotional and teary because you think that’s him! But he’s also an excellent actor so even in the scenes where what happened is perhaps not verbatim – how can it be because nobody was actually there in that scene – he just has the spirit of Freddie, it’s wonderful. And the boys who play Brian, Roger Taylor and John Deacon are fantastic; they’ve observed their characters so well. It was funny meeting Gwilym Lee because when I went on to the set he had the wig on so it was like looking at Brian when we first met. It was like looking at a young Brian with the real Brian standing next to him. That was really “Wow!”’ When Brian was on set he took a camera with him, and he’s included some of the photos he took, including the two here, in his book Queen In 3-D: Updated Edition. Anita says: ‘Brian’s happy with the film now. I think they went through a great process of discussion. The last time they saw a screening in LA, they all signed off on it very happy.’