A lot has been said about Rami Malek putting in fake teeth and doing quite a lot to look and sound like Freddie Mercury on the stage. At one point during filming, Freddy Mercury's sister Kashmira, whom he affectionately calls Kash in the movie, was able to see Malek in full Mercury garb. The actor explained her reaction to Jimmy Kimmel, noting it wasn't really as emotional as you might guess. At least, not at first. He said:
Yeah, I did. I met his sister. She got to see me as young Freddy with long hair and, of course, the teeth, makeup---the whole kind of 1970s early glam rock look. She laughed. As you can imagine it was an incredibly kind of bizarre, alien moment for her... She did [cry] later on. On a serious note, she wrote me the most moving email. It was very powerful. To get that vote of appreciate from the people closest to them was everything to me.
When Bohemian Rhapsody was doing press prior to release, a lot of the reactions that came out about the movie came from people who pop up in the film. Famous names like Brian May spoke out about Rami Malek and the rest of the gang performing, but it's also nice to know that Freddy Mercury's own family was seemingly on board with how the film played out.
Along with being a really fun movie with a toe-tapping soundtrack, Bohemian Rhapsody has earned quite a bit of support from the people who actually really lived out the story. Brian May has spoken out about the movie and what he liked quite a bit, even revealing his favorite scene in the movie is when Rami Malek talks to the band about going solo.
Roger Taylor has spoken out about watching the young men and almost feeling as if he were watching a younger version of himself. He had to remind himself that it was a fictional movie at times.
This is pretty high praise for Bohemian Rhapsody, a movie which doesn't always fully strive to show its members in their very best lights.
As for Kashmira, Freddy Mercury's sister only has a small role in the movie, appearing in a few family-oriented scenes. That part of Bohemian Rhapsody's storyline is mostly reserved for Mercury's relationship with his father, who struggles to understand his son.
Although her part is small, it also means the real Kashmira shouldn't have had to worry about her portrayal on the big screen too much.
Instead, she could laugh at Rami Malek in character and appreciate the movie for what it was, even sending Malek an emotional follow-up email later on, at least according to what Rami Malek revealed on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Biopics don't always have support from the people they are following, but in the case of Bohemian Rhapsody, it seems as if the movie did.
You can catch Queen's story in theaters now or see what is heading to theaters in 2019, courtesy of our full theatrical guide.
