In the new music biopic BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY (now playing), a wonderful celebration of the legendary band Queen, Gwilym Lee and Joseph Mazzello play younger versions of Brian May and John Deacon.

During separate phone conversations, the talented actors talked about the greatest fears and joys working in this anticipated movie.

The film, mostly directed by Bryan Singer before being replaced by Dexter Fletcher, also stars Rami Malek, Mike Myers, Lucy Boynton, Tom Hollander, and Aidan Gillen.

How does it feel to see people enjoying the movie so much and having concert-like reactions?

Joseph Mazzello: We have been all over the place, and the reaction has been overwhelmingly positive from audiences. Seeing them enjoying it as much as we did making it means the world to us. Honestly, the thing that we most cared about was that Brian and Roger were happy. After they saw the film, Brian wrote to us individually to tell us how proud he was with our performances. That was a big sigh of relief because the legacy of the people we played gave us their seal of approval. Seeing the response from the audience has been the the icing on the cake.

Gwilym Lee: When those live music sequences come on, with a good sound system and on the big screen, you can feel the sound vibrating through your chest. It feels like the crowd is being transported to one of those concerts, and they can feel a rush of adrenaline. We premiered this film last week in London, at the Wembley Arena, in front of seven and a half thousand people. They built a special screen, thirty meters wide. That really felt like an event, with people clapping, singing and dancing. But they were also very engaged and captivated by the more intimate and dramatic scenes. What is also lovely the fact that families are going to the cinema, parents with their teenage sons and daughters, and that they leave with big smiles on their faces. It says everything about the power and the universal appeal of Queen’s music.

BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY

It can start very interesting conversations with young people because, beyond introducing the band to a new generation, this is a story about acceptance and tolerance. Right?

Gwilym Lee: Absolutely. That’s Freddie’s story throughout: He was an immigrant that was bullied as a child; he spent his life working out who he was in terms of his sexuality, and later on had to deal with this illness. I think that there is something in this film, and in Queen’s music, that any young person can identify with. I hope that they have the confidence to be who they are, who they want to be.

In playing a young version of a real-life musician, you had the advantage to study them through archive footage and stuff, but it also added a lot of pressure. How did you manage that?

Joseph Mazzello: I am glad that we made this movie in the age of the Internet and Youtube because that information was vital to our performances. On YouTube they even have something called “The John Deacon camera,” so you can see him play for three hours at one of these famous concerts. On the personal side, you don’t get much about John Deacon because he is such a private man. Luckily, I had Brian May and Roger Taylor as resources there. They were always willing to offer answers and tips, it was very cool. When we knew that Brian was coming to meet us and seeing us perform, we basically hid in the production offices. But we quickly realized that they wanted to help us in any way to bring their story to life.

Gwilym Lee: Before I met Brian, it was a terrifying prospect. When you play a real person you feel the weight of the responsibility because you want to do justice to their story. But here you had the responsibility towards the individual, but also the Queen’s fandom. But during our first meeting, during rehearsals, he came in with a big smile on his face and gave me a big old hugh. This film went through an evolution for 10 years, so he was thrilled with sharing a room with the four actors that were going to play his best mates. I never felt criticized, he was always supportive and encouraging.

How did you react to Rami Malek’s take during those first scenes? He does something special that surely will be recognized during award season.

Gwilym Lee: I hope so. It is an incredible transformation! We had five weeks of rehearsal, but that first day on set shooting the Live Aid concert, with Rami in such an iconic Freddie look, that gave us a great sense of excitement. On top of the physical resemblance he brought Freddie’s attitude and his fearless way of always expressing himself. The whole shoot felt like a very celebratory experience.

Do you know why such a pivotal scene like the Live Aid concert was chosen as the first one to shoot?

Joseph Mazzello: The honest answer is the weather. They wanted to shoot that as closer to Summer as possible, to match the lighting of that day in July 1985, in Wembley. We were terrified of having to do this insane 20-minute long set, and being precise in our movements to the smallest detail. But we prepared and realized that we had to be focused and help each other. It made us feel like friends and bandmates, as well as fellow actors. I would have preferred to do it like this, at the beginning, but then doing it again at the end of shooting because we were much better musicians.

BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY

That was shot by Bryan Singer, right? It is my understanding that he did the music presentations, and that Dexter Fletcher worked a few days on more dialogue-driven scenes. Is that accurate?

Joseph Mazzello: It is accurate, to a degree. There was some overlap there. Dexter came in the last three weeks and most of those were interior, more intimate scenes.

What has been the most insidious earworm?

Joseph Mazzello: It’s a new song every single day. When we were shooting we would focus on specific songs, so you couldn’t get the song of the day out of head. Today I woke up with “Under Pressure” in my head, but right now I have “Somebody to love” in the background of my mind. You may think that we would be sick of it, but it actually gave us a deeper appreciation for what this band is. Now we know how to play these songs, who wrote them and to what purpose. Songs that we may have overlook before we now consider them masterpieces. When I finished the shoot and drove for two hours to my home, the only thing I wanted to listen to was Queen. We are sick. We need help! [Laughs]

BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY is now playing in theaters nationwide.

Bohemian Rhapsody is a foot-stomping celebration of Queen, their music and their extraordinary lead singer Freddie Mercury, who defied stereotypes and shattered convention to become one of the most beloved entertainers on the planet. The film traces the meteoric rise of the band through their iconic songs and revolutionary sound, their near-implosion as Mercury’s lifestyle spirals out of control, and their triumphant reunion on the eve of Live Aid, where Mercury, facing a life-threatening illness, leads the band in one of the greatest performances in the history of rock music. In the process, cementing the legacy of a band that were always more like a family, and who continue to inspire outsiders, dreamers and music lovers to this day.