Rami Malek Reveals Intense Work Out Routine He Endured To Transform Himself Into Freddie Mercury

Rami Malek has received praise across the board for his incredible turn as Freddie Mercury in this year's Queen biopic - having even recently landed himself a Golden Globe nomination for his efforts.

Malek reportedly watched Mercury's original 1985 Live Aid performance more than 1,500 times to nail the scene - and even had the recording on set with him to get it perfect, telling news.co.au: "That's something we tried to get move for move, even just gesture for gesture perfectly. It felt like I had it in my bones and I didn't want to keep going back to it. It felt like sometimes you would lose a little bit of the authenticity if you tried to nail it so perfectly."

But while he's been busy making headlines for his acting tekkers, there's another element of the role that Malek threw himself into - and that's the physical transformation he undertook to become Freddie Mercury.

Speaking to The Wrap, Malek explained he'd he also wanted to get his body in shape so that he was able to nail the concert shoots, which no doubt required a great deal of energy.

"I didn't really want to bulk up, per se," he said.

"I just wanted to get my body into a place where I could do a 22-minute concert over and over for five days and not be out of breath.

"Well, it's highly impossible to do that. There were days when I found myself laying on my back trying to just absorb as much air as possible. But at the same time, I was on a very specific diet."

Malek continued: "I bulked up for that first week and immediately had to drop muscle and weight and go into shooting young Freddie, who is very scrawny.

"I just had to be really cognizant of when to work out and when to crash diet. I don't recommend it for anyone."

20th Century Fox

Malek also had Mercury's teeth to consider, having started practicing with a set of fake gnashers a year before shooting even began.

"They started out being pretty difficult to deal with," he said.

"We tried out all different sizes and when they first went in I felt very insecure, but immediately I compensated. Physically, I started to sit with more posture and elegance and I thought, 'Oh, he is so elegant!' You see him covering up his lips and his teeth all the time, and I could never quite get the hang of it. But as soon as those teeth went in, it was done. It was little things like that that were very informative for me."

According to The Wrap, after production finished, Malek had the fake teeth cast in gold, and is planning to auction them for charity.

C'mon, someone give this man a Golden Globe or Oscar. He's definitely earned it.

Topics: Rami Malek, Entertainment, TV and Film, Celebrity, Music, Bohemian Rhapsody

Jess Hardiman

Jess is a journalist at LADbible who graduated from Manchester University with a degree in Film Studies, English Language and Linguistics - indecisiveness at its finest, right there. She also works for FOODbible and its sister page Seitanists, which are both a safe haven for her to channel a love for homemade pasta, fennel and everything else in between. You can contact Jess at [email protected].

@Jess_Hardiman