Rami Malek has defended Bohemian Rhapsody‘s decision to focus on Freddie Mercury’s career with Queen and not his relationships and the final years of his life, suggesting they were constrained by the runtime.

Asked by The Hollywood Reporter about the Queen bandmembers consultancy on the project, Malek said: “They would love to deliver the entire Freddie Mercury story, but we have two hours. And in those two hours I know that those men want to celebrate Freddie’s life, and there was definitely a cognisant effort not to make this a hedonistic, salacious film.

“I think we all would have loved to show more of Freddie’s relationship with Jim [Hutton] toward the end of his life,” he continued. “That relationship is absolutely gorgeous, and if I had it my way, boy, would I love to tack on another hour to this film and fill in a few gaps.

“It’s never going to be perfect in fulfilling the story of a man who we could make countless documentaries about and countless miniseries about.”

(20th Century Fox)

Bohemian Rhapsody has received mixed reviews, but praise has been heaped on Malek for his performance as the iconic singer. The actor says he had to take on a de facto “position of leadership” with the film when director Bryan Singer departed.

“I know there’s always going to be polarising aspects to this film,” Malek concluded.