Did Rami Malek sing the role of Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody?

In the world of the musical biopic, there’s nothing bigger than “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Honestly, it’s not even close. The film revolves around the story of the band Queen, and focuses largely on the late lead singer Freddie Mercury. It’s one of the biggest films ever made, and it’s not part of a major franchise. The film grossed $910 million at the global box office and was a huge success, winning several Academy Awards. Most notable among them was Rami Malek, who won the Best Actor award for his role in the movie Mercury.

To say Mr. Mercury is a legend would be an understatement. Embodying this kind of distinct personality is no easy task. While the movie itself, which is Director Bryan Singer is credited despite being fired from the production late in the gameis very much a mixed bag for many critics and viewers, and the general consensus is that Malek was truly outstanding in the role of Mercury. But the big question is: Did Malik actually sing Queen’s legendary songs? Did he sound like Mercury in the movie?

Malik said in an interview with Metro (via NME) in October 2018. “But mostly my hope and everyone’s hope is that we hear as much from Freddie as possible. I think that’s the goal for all of us.”

To get it out of the way at the top, no, none of the actual singing done by Freddie Mercury on “Bohemian Rhapsody” was done by Rami Malek. He said that, When the first look at the film was released in September 2017The actor explained that he was already working on his singing voice as part of the preparation.

“We’ll be using Freddie as much as possible and using myself as much as possible. I’m at Abbey Road (Studios) now if that says anything to you. I’m not working on my acting.”

Who sang the song if not Malik? Marc Martel, a musician who actually sang in the band Queen, is the voice behind Freddie Mercury in the film. Oddly enough, Martel started making Christian music and posting videos on YouTube. One of his bandmates remarked, at one point, that his style was very similar to Mercury’s. Then everything clicked into place.

The film’s producers ended up searching for him. Martell is the key part of this fusion, as Malik calls it, providing the late icon’s singing voice. Recordings of Martel singing the songs were mixed with Queen’s original recordings to make up for what the audience hears in the film. “I never thought it would be anything more than a fun karaoke trick,” Martel said in a 2019 interview with the British newspaper The Independent. New York Times. The singer also explained some of the differences between his vocal style and Mercury’s.

“I’m not British, so I don’t usually sing with an accent. I don’t have the extra teeth he had, so the S just comes out naturally – it was a very superhuman accent. But even if I didn’t try to sing like Freddie Mercury, people would still hear it in my voice,” No matter what I do, I have this unique and weird thing where I can look like him, so why shouldn’t I?

Martel officially received an “extra vocals” credit in the final film. It is understood that in the lead-up to the film’s release and with Oscar buzz building, the producers and the Fox studio that backed the film did not want to get rid of Malek, who was the favorite to win Best Picture. actor.

Rami Malek won the Best Actor award for his role as Freddie Mercury in “Bohemian Rhapsody.” beating out fierce competitors such as Bradley Cooper (“A Star Is Born”), Christian Bale (“Vice”), Willem Dafoe (“At Eternity’s Gate”), and Viggo Mortenson (“Green Book”). However, the film did not win Best Picture, with “Green Book” taking home the top prize that night.

But the real prize was its $910 million box office revenue. To make matters even better, the “Bohemian Rhapsody” soundtrack became a best-seller in its own right, becoming one of the best-selling albums of 2019. To date, it has sold more than 2.7 million copies, according to BestBellingAlbums.org. However, for all the success of the soundtrack being directly related to a blockbuster movie, Malick had nothing to do with it.

The “Bohemian Rhapsody” soundtrack does not feature any of Malek’s vocals, as does the film. Rolling Stone She even opened her review of the soundtrack by saying, “Don’t worry, you don’t have to hear Rami Malek sing.” Instead, the film is an interesting collection of Queen songs. Some old favorites, some new songs, and even Queen’s take on a 20th Century Fox song.

Most importantly, the soundtrack included unreleased versions of songs from Queen’s legendary Live Aid performance, which is an essential part of the film. The album contains versions of songs such as “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “Radio Gaga”, “Hammer to Fall” and “We Are the Champions” from the 1985 performance at Wembley Stadium. What’s not shown is Malek, except for his resemblance to Mercury on the cover art.

As is often the case in Hollywood, “Bohemian Rhapsody” was in development for years before it was actually produced. As such, there were quite a few actors who were considering the lead role before Rami Malek came along. Malek first signed on to the project in 2015, replacing Ben Whishaw (Skyfall, Paddington).. Whishaw certainly had the look but pulled out after Dexter Fletcher left the director’s chair. Interestingly, Fletcher took over finishing the film after Singer was fired.

But Whisfhaw wasn’t the only one who almost played Freddie Mercury. It is known that Sacha Baron Cohen, of “Borat” fame, was attached to the project before leaving due to creative differences in the development process. For what it’s worth, in a 2021 interview, Queen drummer Roger Taylor expressed his belief that Cohen was not right for the role.

“I think he would have looked quite rude. Sasha is an opportunist, if nothing else… He’s also six inches tall. But I’ve watched his last five films and I’ve come to the conclusion that he’s not a good actor. I could be wrong there, I thought he was a comedic actor.” “An absolutely brilliant subversive, that’s what he’s good at.”

Another big name attached to the role at some point was Oscar Isaac (“Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” “Moon Knight”). In a 2021 interview, Isaac talked about passing on the role of Freddie Mercury in the film. His reasoning seemed logical, but, as the actor admits, he was very wrong about the whole thing.

“At the time I was like, ‘I don’t think anyone wants to see someone pretend to be Freddie Mercury.’ And then, of course — everyone wanted to see someone do Freddie Mercury, so I guess I could never have done what Rami did.” Malik – obviously everyone thought so – was great.”

As anyone might expect, the success of “Bohemian Rhapsody” opened many doors for Malek. The actor had certainly made a name for himself before this film came out, appearing in films like “The Master” and “Short Term 12,” but the Oscar win associated with this huge box office success propelled him to the top of Hollywood’s box office. List A.

Malik’s first order of business was to end his successful show “Mr. Robot” with the fourth and final season ending in December 2019. Having that show on the books freed Malek to capitalize on his newfound stardom, and his first post-Oscar win in the business was joining one of the biggest franchises in cinema history. She is James Bond.

Malek played the villain Safin opposite Daniel Craig 007 in No Time to Die. The film ended up not being released in theaters until late 2021 due to the pandemic, but it was a huge hit and helped Malek send off Craig’s version of the character in style. Among the fans, quite a few felt that Safin was a bit of a disappointing villain, with Malek not getting much screen time. Whatever it was, it was still a great opportunity.

The actor also played the lead role in many failed projects over the past few years. Including Robert Downer Jr.’s ill-fated failure “Dolittle.” and David O. Russell’s “Amsterdam” in 2022. However, Malek was just a bit player in those films, relatively speaking. In general, the actor was associated with success. That extends beyond the screen as well, with Malek playing a major role in the scripted podcast series “Blackout.”

Oddly enough, Malek’s biggest success after “Bohemian Rhapsody” is a film in which he was only a small part. Malek played the small but pivotal role of David Hale in the film Director Christopher Nolan, winner of the Oppenheimer Award for Best Picture. Interestingly, Nolan’s biopic about J. Robert Oppenheimer ($975 million worldwide) surpassed “Bohemian Rhapsody” to become the highest-grossing biopic in history. Malik put his stamp on both, albeit in very different capacities.

Next up for Malek is an action thriller called Amateur, which finds Malek in the lead role as a CIA cryptographer who manages to blackmail the agency into letting him hunt down a group of terrorists who killed his wife. It is currently scheduled to hit theaters on April 11, 2025.