Rami Malek On Complaints That Bohemian Rhapsody Doesn’t Focus On Freddie Mercury’s Sexuality Enough

In an interview with USA Today, Rami Malek spoke about the criticism that the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody has received for not focusing enough on Freddie Mercury’s relationships with men, putting more focus on his relationship with a woman, Mary Austin, instead. The film ends in 1985, the same year that Mercury began dating his longtime partner Jim Hutton. In spite of the complaints, Malek, who plays Mercury, has been praised in reviews for his performance. Here are highlights:

On the complaints the film has received: “I totally understand. He had a beautiful relationship with Jim Hutton, and we had a finite period in which we wanted to tell this story. Believe me: There were conversations left and right about how to incorporate more of that story into this film. It was something I pushed for, to be quite honest, as much as possible and repeatedly brought to the attention of producers and directors and everyone who would listen.”

On hoping people still enjoy it: “Freddie Mercury is a gay icon, and he’s an icon for all of us. I hope people do not feel that the film does a disservice to the community, and if it were me, I would’ve loved to have incorporated more.”