THAT’S A ‘RHAP’
How ‘Bohemian’ stars became rockers
Fantasy became the real life for the stars of “Bohemian Rhapsody.” And it was “magnifico-o-o-o!”
Not only were the actors who portray the four members of Queen in the longawaited biopic tasked with physically transforming into the rock icons and learning everything they could about their personalities — they also faced the challenge of performing the band's music.
That meant hopping on stage and playing real instruments for renditions of “We Will Rock You," “We Are The Champions” and other Queen classics in front of hordes of screaming extras, giving the actors an exhilarating experience not found on a typical movie set.
“It's so thrilling. There are extras there, always, but they are there to see a show,” says Joseph Mazzello, who plays bassist John Deacon. “You'll walk out on stage, and they'll cheer for you. They're like, ‘Wooo!' You're just sort of getting yourself ready to act, and they're just like, ‘We love you John Deacon!' And you'll be like, ‘Yeah!' You're into it immediately. You're living this dream. That's why you're an actor, to do stuff like this. To live out the other dreams that you never were actually going to be able to (make) come true.”
The movie, out Friday, tells the story of how Queen and its legendary frontman, Freddie Mercury (played by Rami Malek), became one of the most popular and acclaimed rock bands in history. Mazzello, 35, estimates the role required about four times the preparation of a standard acting gig because he and his co-stars had to master the mannerisms, dialects and stage presences of the real-life characters they play, in addition to learning their instruments.
They watched hours of Queen interviews and live performances, and both Mazzello and his co-star Gwilym Lee credit the band's guitarist, Brian May, for making himself available on the movie's set and giving them valuable pointers.
“There's no end to the amount of research you can do, and you really feel responsible for trying to find everything out there that's available,” says Lee, who plays May in the film. “I just personally would've felt like an idiot if there was a really obvious thing that I missed in a performance or in an interview that the whole fandom knows and that I missed. You're trying to do justice not just to the people that you're playing, but to the fandom as well, and that was a big weight of responsibility."
Mazzello didn't have any experience playing the bass before he was cast as Deacon, while Lee, 34, could play acoustic and rhythm guitar coming in, but not the electric lead guitar that May uses. They spent their weekends doing band rehearsals and practiced their instruments during any downtime they could find on set to ensure they'd be ready to go when the cameras started rolling.
Most of the music scenes involved Malek, Lee, Mazzello and their co-star Ben Hardy — who portrays drummer Roger Taylor — performing along with a backing track, but make no mistake about it, they were really up there playing. They took pride in the fact that they never had to use the hand doubles who were there on set just in case they needed to use someone else's hands for a close-up shot.
“You see us striking the strings. You see our fingers move on the fretboard,” Lee said. “You can't fake it. You've got to actually play along.”