Rami Malek Assures Queen Fans That ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ Doesn’t Ignore Freddie Mercury’s Sexuality

Our rockin’ world has gone ’round the Sun eight times since Bohemian Rhapsody was first announced, but the Queen biopic, with a focus on lead singer Freddie Mercury, is finally coming out this November. The film has lost (Bryan Singer) and gained (Dexter Fletcher) a director, and the first trailer proved controversial for ignoring the late frontman’s sexual orientation. (Mercury is seen flirting with women, but not men, in the clip.) But in an interview with Attitude magazine, the Mr. Robot star assured Queen fans that Rhapsody won’t “shy away” from Mercury’s sexuality, or his AIDS diagnosis.

“It’s a shame that people are making remarks after a minute teaser where you just wanna see the music,” Malek said. “It’s difficult. First, let me say that I don’t think the film shies away from his sexuality or his all-consuming disease, which is obviously AIDS. I don’t know how you could avoid any of that, or if anyone would ever want to. It’s a bit absurd that anyone’s judging this from a minute trailer.” Don’t stop the Emmy winner now — he’s gonna go go go on.

“The film needed to approach it in a delicate manner. You can’t shy away from it. It was an important moment to have in the film, one that ultimately is very sad but also empowering in a way. It shows you just how resilient human beings can be and how much we rely on the strength of our friends and family to get us through tough times. This pandemic is still very much a horrific threat to so many people in the world. It exists as a reality for so many that I think it would be a shame not to address it.” (Via)

Bohemian Rhapsody — which also stars Gwilym Lee as guitarist Brian May, Ben Hardy as drummer Roger Taylor, Joseph Mazzello as bassist John Deacon, and Lucy Boynton as Mercury’s companion Mary Austin — opens on November 2.