“Bohemian Rhapsody” star Lucy Boynton has responded to claims the eagerly anticipated Queen biopic shies away from discussing Freddie Mercury’s sexuality.
Boynton, 24, who plays Mercury’s longtime friend and former fiancee, Mary Austin, in the movie, was unimpressed that the backlash followed a 60-second trailer, which was “supposed to tease basically nothing.”
The actress told Digital Spy, “It’s when people want to have something to criticize that is kind of jarring, especially because it does and the one thing that we’re so proud of with this film is that I don’t feel it ever steps over the line into any kind of expose or intrusiveness.
“I don’t know what people wanted to see in terms of… they always ask about the darkness of Freddie and such and it’s like, it’s a celebration and ode to [him].”
Boynton is involved in one scene in which Austin and Mercury break up because of the singer’s sexuality. The star insisted she tried to act out the role “in a more cognitive way of how she would be comfortable seeing it now.”
She said, “Obviously that’s a creative interpretation because no one else was in the room so no one else knows what exactly was said.
“It was a weird moment of trying to navigate the most beneficial way to portray it to give the most impact on the audience, but also what she would be comfortable about seeing now and what was true to the situation then. It’s a whole juggling act, it’s really terrifying.”
Boynton’s comments come after lead star Rami Malek, who plays Mercury, spoke to Attitude about the “straightwashing” accusations.
He shared, “It’s a shame that people are making remarks after a minute teaser where you just wanna see the music. It’s difficult.
“First, let me say that I don’t think the film shies away from his sexuality or his all-consuming disease, which is obviously AIDS. I don’t know how you could avoid any of that, or if anyone would ever want to. It’s a bit absurd that anyone’s judging this from a minute trailer.”
“Bohemian Rhapsody” hits theatres Nov. 2.
