Adam Lambert Says Rami Malek Is Right Person to Play Freddie Mercury in ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’

Adam Lambert thinks Rami Malek was the right person to portray Freddie Mercury in the upcoming Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody.

In an interview published Monday with Entertainment Tonight, Lambert said that Malek is a much better performer to play the role than himself. Lambert has been playing with Queen since 2011 and has been touring with the band since 2014.

“I don’t look like Freddie. I don’t sound like Freddie. I sound like me,” said the singer. “Rami looks amazing. He’s a great actor. From what I understand, they used pieces of actual studio recording of Freddie and Marc Martel, who is an impersonator of Freddie Mercury, to do some of the other vocal stuff. So it’s really about re-creating Freddie. So no, it wouldn’t have been me.”

Bohemian Rhapsody chronicles the band’s early career and rise to fame, as well as explores Mercury’s personal life and AIDS diagnosis. The film also stars Ben Hardy as Roger Taylor, Joseph Mazzello as John Deacon and Gwilym Lee as Brian May.

He also revealed that he enjoys the parts of the film that he has already seen. “What I love is the way that they show the music coming together with the band creating a song,” he said. “I found that really exciting having now played with Brian [May] and Roger [Taylor] for the last few years. Watching that process be re-created, I thought was really brilliant.”

Lambert shared that Malek has done research for the role and has attended a number of Queen shows. “[I’ve] met him a couple times now. He’s great,” he said. “He’s really good in the film, too, very sensitive portrayal.”

The film was originally directed by Bryan Singer, though he was fired in December after a number of unexplained absences from set. Singer later claimed that he was absent from set to tend to a “gravely ill parent.” Dexter Fletcher ultimately replaced Singer, though the former director will still get a directing credit.

Bohemian Rhapsody will hit theaters Nov. 2.

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