FILM · 2018 · USA
Bohemian Rhapsody
- Directed by
- Bryan Singer
- Runtime
- 135 min
- Studio
- 20th Century Fox, Regency Enterprises, GK Films
226 archived facts 8 topics 1 source Last reviewed Sep 2026
Singer Freddie Mercury, guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor and bass guitarist John Deacon take the music world by storm when they form the rock 'n' roll band Queen in 1970. Hit songs become instant classics. When Mercury's increasingly wild lifestyle starts to spiral out of control, Queen soon faces its greatest challenge yet – finding a way to keep the band together amid the success and excess.
Summary: TMDB
14 Facts From Behind the Scenes of Bohemian Rhapsody
- #029
Although Jim Beach gave up his successful law firm partnership to handle Queen's legal concerns permanently, he also managed Chris Rea, produced films and special TV programmes, and worked behind the scenes on stage projects including the Queen musical We Will Rock You.
- #048
During filming at the famous Rockfield Farm Studios in Wales, where Queen recorded the 1975 album "A Night at the Opera," which includes "Bohemian Rhapsody," Ben Hardy had the privilege of playing the original tom-tom drums Roger Taylor used on the actual album recording. According to Ben, this was one of the highlights of his experience on the shoot.
- #057
Throughout the shoot, Joseph Mazzello had his own hair permed as well as using five different wigs, an experience he did not expect to be so 'permanent'.
- #064
Rami Malek, Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy and Joseph Mazzello grew close during rehearsals; the bond between them only deepened during production. "There are always films where the actors talk about how tight the actors and the crew were, but this was special," reflects Malek. "You felt it every day. We all talk every day, and we finished this film almost a year ago. There isn't a day that goes by that we don't communicate with each other." Adds Lee, "Remember, half the band lives in the UK, half lives in America… Since we wrapped at the end of January, we haven't gone more than a few weeks without seeing each other. It's sickening; we can't be apart."
- #065
Rami Malek had joked that he wore only a single costume as Elliot Alderson in Mr. Robot (2015), but for Bohemian Rhapsody there were countless wardrobe changes and costume options. He has roughly 70 to 75 different costumes in the film, depending on whether you count accessories, in the theatrical and DVD cuts.
- #067
At around 1 hour 20 minutes in, Joseph Mazzello claims he improvised the line "I had a cold last week, if anyone cares."
- #084
Prosthetic makeup artist Mark Coulier, known for his work on the Harry Potter series, The Iron Lady (2011) and Suspiria (2018), collaborated with Jan Sewell on Rami Malek's makeup design. His team made a plaster cast of Malek's face in order to create small facial prosthetics (including one for Malek's nose) to help Jan Sewell bring out Freddie Mercury's appearance.
- #095
According to the BBC, the film's production was difficult. The film's producers and its star Rami Malek had grown tired of director Bryan Singer's erratic behavior, including his routinely arriving late to set or disappearing entirely. In 2017, after the Thanksgiving holiday, Singer was absent from filming for three days, at which point cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel had to step in and direct in Singer's absence. Reports claimed Singer had left due to a family matter. A few days after this news, 20th Century Fox fired Singer from the film for his unstable behavior on and off set and his conflicts with the production crew. The next day things would get much worse for Singer when 20th Century Fox terminated its Bad Hat Harry production deal with the studio. Fox began searching for a new director to finish the production, with two weeks of shooting left, all of post-production and potential reshoots. New director Dexter Fletcher started on the production after New Year 2017. In the end Singer still received the directing credit, but the studio took away his executive producer credit.
- #096
Contains a major spoiler — show
Freddie Mercury allegedly had not learned he was HIV positive before Live Aid. In the film, during the Live Aid rehearsals, Freddie reveals to the band that he is HIV positive but wants to keep the news completely secret and focus all his attention on the music. Exactly when Mercury learned he had contracted the virus is still disputed, but it is generally accepted to have been between 1986 and 1987. The band almost certainly did not know this while rehearsing for Live Aid in 1985.
- #117
John Reid was only 26 years old when he began managing Queen, but Aidan Gillen, the actor who portrayed him, was actually 49 during filming.
- #121
The first scene the actors shot was their appearance on stage at Live Aid. "Bohemian Rhapsody" was filmed on the first day, "Radio Gaga" the next, and so on, until a complete pass was finally captured. The actors rehearsed every small movement for five weeks and said they believed the production company wanted to know in advance how they could complete this iconic scene. Producer Graham King, however, said the reason they filmed it first was the weather. The film was shot in late October and early November, and because London's weather can be unpredictable, he did not want the exterior to be too cold or wet.
- #125
Contains a major spoiler — show
At an earlier point, Sir Elton John pressed Freddie Mercury to tell him what kind of preparations the band had made before their Live Aid performance. Freddie told the highly competitive Elton that they had done a few rehearsals but were "just going to wing it on the day." In reality the band had spent a solid week rehearsing in a university gym in Middlesex the week before the concert, because they wanted to make their timing flawless given the limited stage time allotted to them. When Elton saw their performance he realised he had been deceived and was quite annoyed, though in later years he saw the funny side and admitted he should have known better, since he knew Freddie had a mischievous sense of humour.
- #136
Rami Malek and Lucy Boynton became an item during the filming of this movie.
- #205
Mary Austin did not allow filming at Freddie Mercury's real-life home in Kensington, London. A similar-looking house in the London suburb of Surbiton was used for these scenes. Coincidentally, real-life Queen guitarist Brian May was born and raised in Hampton, Middlesex, located just across the River Thames about three miles northwest of Surbiton.
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