#Polly Bennett is his movement coach

[chalamet-chalamet]

Timothée with his movement and dialect coaches for ‘A Complete Unknown’ (7/25/23)

Credit to dailymail

[missmaywemeetagain]

Hi,

for your prompt request.

💻 angst for Austin. There was a short lived rumour he'd perform at the Oscars. I had this in my head for months, that he'd perform the in memoriam section (what Lenny Kravitz did this year). Maybe with the beautiful Elvis rendition of BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER .

Obviously that's a daunting thing, so maybe some praise kink that leads to more at rehearsals? With whoever your comfortable with writing this but if live to read it with Polly Bennett his movement coach.

Xxx

Ohhhh, dearest Nonnie, did you give me a challenge! It took me a minute to try and get into Austin's head because I've never written him before, so thank you for your patience! 💖

I really ended up leaning into that praise kink, and this turned out waaay filthier than I intended, but 'twas where my muse took me lol. The Bridge Over Trouble Water lyrics actually were a bit of an inspiration, so the song appears more figuratively than literally. I hope it's okay that it ended up being so much smut vs. storyline, but it is Austin and Polly! Thank you for your request and I hope you enjoy, When Tears Are In Your Eyes, darlin'! 💋

TW: This is utterly filthy. Minors BE GONE! 18+ only! Really, there is so much SEXXX, but, like, in a sweet, subby Austin way. Panic attacks. Negative self-talk. PRAISE KINK--so much praise kink... Sub space? Not as edited as usual! Hopefully this isn't too much of a mess cuz I'm a little nervous about writing about Austin (and Polly!)...I'm definitely not an Austin expert 👀

When Tears Are in Your Eyes

The first time was a fluke. The panic before he’d had to go out and really perform as Elvis for the first time, for the ’68 Special section, was utterly paralyzing and he’d needed something or someone to break him out of his mind prison, someone telling him he was going to be okay, that he was going to do a great job, that he was good enough. Desperate times had called for desperate measures.

Baz and Olivia and even Catherine had tried help him shake his nerves, but no matter the massive amount of support and encouragement from them all, he was convinced there was no way he could do Elvis justice. That he would fail completely, not only tanking his own career, but also Baz’s, and disappoint millions of Elvis’ fans across the world in the process. To say he’d worked himself into a frenzy was an understatement.

When Polly came in, his amazing and fiery movement coach, he was convinced she wouldn’t be able to stave off this horror building inside him, this pure terror that he was a complete fraud. But they’d worked so many hours together, one on one, that she could sense something in him that he could not. When she’d embraced him and told him he was going to be alright, that everything would be fine, he almost broke into pieces at his friend’s words. He’d sniffled into her blonde hair, his Elvis makeup running, clutching at her like she was a life raft.

And then it had happened. As she whispered words of encouragement into the shell of his ear, praising the commitment he had to the role and how he was already doing Elvis’ legacy proud, he’d felt it. Unfortunately, pressed up against her in that tight black leather suit, it didn’t take long for her to feel it, too.

He was totally mortified, of course, chalking it up to his anxiousness and heightened emotions, and it sent him into another kind of panic because Polly was his colleague and his friend and oh my god, he didn’t want to ruin any of that. Whimpering in her hair, he wanted to pull away and hide even more than he had before, but she just kept breathing praise into his ear. As if he wasn’t rock hard against her.

It hadn’t taken long for his body to go off the rails, his hips rolling into her ever so slightly, the friction of those damn pants coupled with what she was saying arousing him to the point of bursting. But she didn’t flinch or move away, she just kept her arms around him tight and let him grind and whimper into her.

It wasn’t enough. He was a sniveling mess, terrified of going out there and humiliating himself, and now he was insanely aroused, his mind starting to white out, and he needed release but the dry humping just wasn’t enough.

Somehow, she’d known exactly what he needed and for some unknown reason, hadn’t hesitated in the slightest in giving it to him. When she’d popped the button on the pants, unzipping him just enough to reach her tiny hand in, he’d nearly passed out from the way she’d groped his too-sensitive cock through his underwear.

“Doing such a good job for me, Aus, always doing so good for me. Always putting in your all. You’re gonna be perfect,” she’d whispered as she pumped him expertly. His mind went blank, hearing nothing but her praise, and he surrendered quickly. Shuddering violently, he crested and felt the hot spurts of his release coat the inside of his briefs.

“That’s it, let it go, Aus. Cumming so well,” she’d praised him, talking him through his orgasm, then released him with a genuine smile, pressing her forehead to his as he tried to regain his senses.

It wrecked him just enough to break him free of his anxiety. He’d gasped in both refraction and shock and Polly had just patted his cheek sweetly and handed him tissues to clean himself up, like there wasn’t something completely bonkers that happened between them. Like she hadn’t just jerked him off and successfully made him feel like he could go out there now and be Elvis. Like his confidence hadn’t been restored by the magic power of her words and her hand.

Things had happened so intensely and fast after that with filming that he’d barely had time to think on it. When he’d stripped out of the suit and his messed underwear later that night, he’d actually laughed, thinking of the story of how Elvis had orgasmed in his leather suit as well.

How very ‘method’ of me, he’d thought with a chuckle.

He’d also been confused and embarrassed, but Polly acted like nothing strange had occurred at all. No lingering glances or silly winks. No uncomfortable silences or awkward words. Business as usual.

So, he’d moved on. It was a fluke. A moment of weakness.

Except now, backstage during rehearsals for the Oscars, he finds himself in that same completely panicked headspace for the first time since the ’68 Special. His agent had somehow convinced him to agree to singing “Bridge Over Troubled Water” during the “In Memorial” section of the show. But that was months ago, before he was exhausted from all the award shows and press and schmoozing and the traveling across continents, all the while trying not to let his grief for Lisa Marie (and the residual grief it triggered about his mom) consume him.

He is terrified. Stomach churning and palms sweating, he shakes all over, a leftover effect of those pieces of Elvis still lingering within him. Singing in front of people was never something he’d been able to do until Elvis. But even then, he’d been playing a character. It was so much more vulnerable to get out there singing as himself. In front of a room filled with the biggest names in Hollywood, in front of his heroes, and for millions on live television, no less.

No pressure or anything.

Sure, they’d convinced him to sing briefly on SNL, but that was still under the guise of Elvis and it had been only a small part of the farewell for Cecily, the focus being on her, not just him. He’d been nervous, to be sure, but it had been different. Not this. Nothing like this.

Of course, he knows the song in his sleep, it being one of his favorites to listen to while prepping for Elvis. But as much as the critics and the world loved his performance, and as much as he tries to draw upon the superstar’s confidence, he is not Elvis Presley.

His shallow and quick breaths as he waits for his turn to rehearse makes him think that he might pass out if he keeps freaking out at this rate. Forcing himself to breath in through his nose and out through his mouth, part of the dynamic breathwork he’d learned, he manages to keep from ending up on the floor. But his mind is still whirling and his stomach is churning.

You idiot, you’re just gonna go out there and embarrass yourself in front of everyone you admire. What a failure you’ll be, his inner critic berates him. Stupid fucking fool.

He can’t do this. There’s no way in hell.

Austin feels the tears prick in his eyes. Oh, good, now I’m gonna cry, too. Perfect.

It’s then that he feels the small arms encircle his waist and he knows.

He knows it’s her.

He’s not sure how Pol managed to get backstage—the security is insane—but like a miracle, she’s here. “Come on, Aus. You’re going to be okay,” she says quietly.

Gently, she pulls him back, back, back through the wings of the stage, whispering words along the way (“You can do this, hun, and will do it well. I know you will.”) and into an empty dressing room. He follows more than willingly, letting the tears free fall down his cheeks now.

He finds himself in that strange little space again where all he hears and wants and needs is her, her reassurances and praises, and she gives them liberally.

Polly gently pushes him into the room, closing the door and engaging the lock behind her. His brain is overloaded, his body buzzing with anxiety, but her words leave him wanting and he feels his cock twitch in his pants. All rational thought is abandoned, his body beginning to take over, and he doesn’t have the strength to hold himself back.

Austin steps into her, pressing her back against the door, nuzzling his head down into her neck. She lets him, her hands running softly, comfortingly, through his hair, causing a low moan to escape his lips.

“I-I-I need…please…” he begs through hiccupping little sobs.

“I know, shh, I know.”

Then, she proceeds to murmur at him all the ways he is good and talented and true. He can’t help rolling his now-aching cock into her belly, but she does not falter.

The sensations are all too much this time, even more than the first time, and he is running his hand up her bare leg and under her skirt before his mind even registers what he’s trying to do, all the lines he is going to cross. Because he has to do something, something he knows he’s good at, something he knows he won’t fail.

And by the little squeak that turns into a mewl when he reaches the apex between her thighs, the thin cotton covering her warm little sex, he knows he’s right. Slipping his fingers under, he runs them through her already dampening folds and up to circle the sensitive nub at the top.

“T-this o-okay?” he stutters out, needing to know he’s doing right by her.

“Yes, Aus, that’s perfect, oh god,” she moans breathlessly in his ear.

The praise fully short-circuits his brain, sending him into that white space where his career expectations and fears don’t touch him like they did before.

Please, please, please…is all he thinks and he realizes eventually that he’s panting it out loud, ignoring the straining in his pants because he wants to get her off, he needs to please her, and if he does, everything will somehow be okay.

He slides his fingers down through her softness, and finding her wet and ready for him, turns her around to face the door and slides two fingers into her heat, his thumb working circles on her clit. Pumping, his fingers search for that spongy spot, the one he thinks will make her keen and pleased, and when he finds it, he curls his fingertips into it.

“That’s it…just like that,” she pants, then she bucks back, her ample ass giving him some much-needed friction. The sensation is almost too much, causing him to press her into the door, his throbbing erection making him desperate.

“Oh, my good, good boy. Oh god. Oh g-god, Aus, you’re gonna make me cum,” she chokes out and it’s music to his ears, this approval and proof of his goodness. “That’s p-perfect, you’re perfect!”

Her cry couples the fluttering of her walls and the dam breaks, arousal flooding onto his hand. But her release sends his body into overdrive, and he pulls his fingers out of her, leaving her moaning. Frantically, he pulls her soaked panties down her legs and unbuckles his pants, letting them slide down and free his cock.

“Please, I-I-I…can I?” he whimpers at her.

She nods. “Yes, yes!”

He is in shambles. It only takes a second before he’s rubbing his cock between her legs, coating himself in her slick, and they both moan at the sensation.

Going into that white space, the one he only gets to when with her, all he can think is please, please, I need, I need, and it causes him to rush a little. He pushes up into her comforting and plush folds, meeting a little resistance on the way because he’s thick and she’s small but oh god, she’s so tight around him.

Through the hazy fog of his brain, he hears her pretty little gasps as she adjusts to his girth, but when he bottoms out in her wet heat, it feels too good and a fresh panic hits him. This awareness of what he is doing to her—spearing her and splitting her in two—and the thought that he might be doing it wrong or hurting her in some way has him sobbing, “Pol,” as he clutches at her waist.

“It’s okay, you’re perfect, Aus,” she moans, encouraging him. “Now move those hips, just like I taught you.”

Relief and fresh arousal floods over him. He knows this. He can do it in his sleep. Cock twitching inside her, he starts to move, rolling those narrow hips of his smoothly, precisely, just as he’d practiced for hours and hours prepping for Elvis.

Polly lets out a low, pleased groan as he does so, and it fills him with pleasure because he’s pleasing her, he’s doing it right. With each thrust, she coos at him words of praise and he eats them up like he’s starving. The terror and the trepidation are banished into the shadows, consumed by that white space, the space where he is perfect and good and doing everything just right.

He could stay here forever, surrounded by light and warmth and comfort, buried deep in his friend.

His smooth thrusts become pointed because the more she praises his work, the hotter he becomes, like he’s burning up from the inside in the best way possible. She writhes below him, pushing back into him, the sound of his balls slapping her weepy, perfect little cunt sending every ounce of blood straight into his dick.

One hand slams next to hers on the door, using it as leverage to pound into her. Deeper, need to be deeper, oh fuck, oh Jesus. The other grips desperately at her waist, anchoring himself to her so he doesn’t fly too far away into that glorious white space.

Her voice does that, too, her breathless sighs of, “Yes, yes, you’re doing so good, giving me that perfect cock so well, Aus,” are pushing him headlong to the brink.

Reaching around under her skirt, he finds her puffy clit and works it furiously, even in his blinding fog knowing he wants her to come over the edge with him. She keens and he pistons erratically at the sound.

“Fuck, you’re gonna be a good boy and come with me now, right Aus?” she pants, taking him like she was made to do so.

“Mhm,” is all he can manage, biting his lower lip and nodding. Heat floods him, overwhelming his senses as he fucks into her, needing every inch to remind him who he is. He begins to shudder when he feels her walls clench tighter around him.

“Oh, fuck, you’re g-gonna make me cum again, Aus! Oh, YES,” she moans, fluttering around him, and he shatters into little pieces right behind her.

He’s too far gone to pull out, selfishly claiming her and painting her walls white with his seed. Relishing in her warmth, he clings to her in his climax, not realizing the tears of relief streaming down his face.

Every ounce of tension in his body releases. The only sound in the room is their heavy breathing as they recover. She lets him linger inside her, seemingly aware of how far away he’s gone.

Eventually, the white space dims and he comes back into himself, sliding his softening cock out of her. He kisses her softly at the place where her neck meets her shoulder.

“I—Thank you,” he whispers, voice low and gravely, unsure of what to say, unsure of how to make her understand that she managed to banish his self-hating demons away right when he needed her.

She turns around and pulls his head down, pressing her lips to his forehead. “Anything for you, Aus.”

His now-relaxed body fills with warmth at that.

Finding a box of tissues, he grabs a clump, then falls reverently to his knees in front of her with the intent of cleaning her up. He pulls up the hem of her dress, revealing the short thatch of hair at the top of her pussy, worked swollen and red from him.

“You don’t have to do that, Aus,” she breathes. He can sense the blush in her voice, a modesty that was absent when she was trying to help him through his panic.

“Hush.” He taps her legs open and she relents quickly, unable to deny him. Pink and slick and bare to him, he looks up at her from below and adds, “You’re beautiful.”

She flushes pink and bashfully looks away.

His initial task to clean her abandoned, he watches in a kind of awe and pride the way his spent arousal, mixed with her own, leaks from her tight, little hole. He abandons the tissues on the floor. So entranced is he that he can’t stop himself from running his fingers through her folds and the slick.

She gasps from above, which quickly turns into a punctuated sigh when he leans forward and softly kisses her oversensitive nub. Fueled by her reaction and the deliciously musky taste of her on his lips, he flicks his tongue there.

She nearly doubles over, her hands flying into his sandy locks.

His body, still recovering from their sex, hums with pleasure. He laps at her again, and again. He can’t seem to help himself because she just makes him feel so good.

She shudders over him, trying to still his head. “Aus, I can’t,” she whines. This was obviously not part of her plan to calm him.

He smiles against her clit, then pulls back to watch as he uses two long fingers to push his dripping arousal back up into her tight heat.

The sound of her loud moan resonates in the small space as she falls back against the door, eyes closing with pleasure.

He holds there for a moment before he turns his attention back to her puffy, oversexed clit. Licking, sucking, and kissing it, he teases her. He works her into a frenzied, whimpering mess above him.

He pulls away briefly. “Am I doing good?” he asks with a hopeful little smile, still needing her approval. He scissors his fingers, sliding them in and out of her soaking and nearly-wrecked pussy.

All she can seem to do is nod frantically. That thrill of praise runs through him again.

Diving back in, he relishes the taste of her, of them, adding a third digit into her stretched hole. The noises are obscene, the squelching of their combined arousal filling the room as he fucks her relentlessly with his fingers. Her mewling whimpers let him know he’s still satisfying her. He can feel himself hardening again, but it’s an afterthought to her pleasure.

“Cum for me, baby, let me make you cum. Come on now,” he urges her.

Once he curls his fingers into that soft spot inside her and sucks on her nub just so, it doesn’t take long until she goes rigid and comes undone with a panting shudder. Again.

Austin strokes her through her climax then releases her with one last soft kiss to her mound. Then he finally uses those tissues to clean her gently. She shudders with overstimulation.

“You are too good, Austin Butler,” she gasps out.

“Promise?” he says, only half joking as they both put themselves back together.

Polly grabs him by the cheeks and stares directly into his big, blue eyes. “Aus, you are one of the best, most talented men I have ever known. Anything you choose to do, you give it your all. You will do well,” she says seriously. “Now, go out there and kick some ass for me, will you?” She smiles and gives him a kiss on the cheek.

He can’t help but grin from ear to ear, his doubts banished.

And even though he is nervous and emotional the night of the awards, he thinks of that sublime and calm white space where he is always good enough. And when he sings at the show, he gives it his all, knowing that Polly is watching.

[jhamazamnews-blog]

Austin Butler as Elvis Presley: Meet the woman who taught the Oscar nominee to move like The King | Ents & Arts News

When Elvis star Austin Butler arrived at this year’s BAFTA Awards, it wasn’t his model girlfriend Kaia Gerber who accompanied the actor as his plus-one. Instead, Butler attended the ceremony with Polly Bennett, the movement coach who spent months working with the star to help him transform into The King. When the camera panned to his seat after his name was called out as the winner of this year’s…

[austin---butler678945]

Photos of Austin and his movement coach for the Elvis movie Polly Bennett. Last night at the BAFTA awards.

[thecrownnet]

For The Crown‘s fourth season, Peter Morgan brought his decades-spanning royal drama into more familiar territory for many of its viewers. Starting with the election of famously abrasive Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (Gillian Anderson) in 1979, Netflix’s The Crown also saw the debut of newcomer Emma Corrin, playing the young Lady Diana Spencer. From the moment she was engaged to Prince Charles in 1981 to her untimely death in 1997, Diana was never out of the headlines, whether making the news for her high-profile divorce from the future king, raising money for charity or making waves in the fashion world.

Speaking at Deadline’s Contenders Television awards-season event, Corrin admitted that the real Diana was a hard act to follow.

“When I got the role,” she said, “it was initially very overwhelming, in terms of the extent of the information out there and the endless research you could do, because there’s just so much of it. [Diana’s arrival] collided with the rise of our interest in celebrity, and there’s so much footage of her that I got quite bogged down in it for a while. And then the research team for The Crown sent me a folder which had all this information that was broken down, so it corresponded to the episodes, and then I got the scripts as well.”

“And that really helped,” she continued. “I realized, ‘Oh, I’m actually not playing Diana so much as I’m creating a version of her and I’m telling a story about this person who Peter’s written.’ So, yes, there were some incredible documentaries that really helped me get a sense of how she moved through the world, her voice, and people’s responses to her. But it was really when I started working with Polly Bennett, our movement and character coach, that she really started coming together for me. We worked very much from the inside out.”

Co-star Josh O’Connor, who took over the role of Prince Charles in Season 3, marveled at Corrin’s ability to find her feet so quickly. “Emma had the extraordinary task of coming in on season four and having to do it all from scratch,” he said, “which she did amazingly. I was really lucky to have a few episodes in Season 3 where I could, I guess, warm up a little bit. There’s a moment where you find your character, and I guess that’s true of any acting job really—there’s a kind of breakthrough moment. I’ve definitely done jobs where I’ve turned up on day one and felt like I’m short-changing everyone. But with experience you just build stuff up as much as you can and then hope that it lands.”

Check back Monday for the panel video

[oneshortdamnfuse]

Here I go gushing about Rami Malek again, but I personally love the fact that he’s such a professional on the job. He does mountains of research for each role. He develops great relationships with specialists who inform his roles. 

He chose to go out and consult with a psychologist about Elliot Alderson because he wanted to be informed about Elliot’s condition. He did that on his own, and then they chose to work with her for Mr. Robot. 

He decided he needed a movement coach instead of a dance instructor for Freddie Mercury, and he developed a great working relationship with Polly Bennett who he continues to rely on for the physical challenges of his roles.

He asked for practice with prostheses. He asked for music lessons. He asked for these things well in advance while filming the third season of Mr. Robot. And, he shows up to set well prepared!

He memorizes everyone’s names on set. He doesn’t tolerate slackers. He cares about his peers. He puts everything into his roles, including filming challenging scenes multiple times to get it right even if it’s uncomfortable. 

He proves that effort is important in doing something right, and he doesn’t get enough credit and recognition, in my opinion, for this specifically. He puts in effort to act well on his own, but also to work collaboratively.

His professionalism and dedication are easily the most admirable qualities of his character. It’s hard for me to care about how obsessive the media gets about his personal life and relationships when he’s out there being excellent.

Wish we could focus more on that.

[killer-benhardy]

Behind the Scenes: Bohemian Rhapsody

Rami Malek and Polly Bennett (his movement coach) are honestly brilliant

[visionnepal3-blog]

How Fake Teeth And Fosse Walks Transformed Rami Malek Into Freddie Mercury

Rami Malek plays Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody. (Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox)

By Marialexa Kavanaugh with Monica Bushman & John Horn

If you're an actor playing a real person, there's even more pressure to get it right. When you're playing Freddie Mercury, the world-famous rock icon with an other-worldly vocal range and amazingly flamboyant stage presence, that pressure's much higher.

Actor Rami Malek was so ready to take on the challenge of playing the Queen frontman in Bohemian Rhapsody that he dove into preparing even before he officially had the part. That's also because his performance had to win over two of the surviving members of the British rock band, Brian May and Roger Taylor — who had the final say on casting.

"I flew myself out initially without this film being fully greenlit to go work on singing and piano and movement," Malek said. "I felt when I got there I had a bit of a leg up."

The movie's framed around the band's legendary 1985 performance at Live Aid, considered one of the best rock performances of all time. Despite being arguably the most climactic moment in Queen's career, the show was the first thing that then-director Bryan Singer shot for the biopic.

"When we shot Live Aid, I sat down at that piano, and it was a feeling like no other of seeing something you've watched over and over and over again. And here you are living it," Malek said.

Singer never finished the film. While he's still the credited director, he was fired for failing to show up on set with only a couple of weeks of production left.

Dexter Fletcher ended up filling his spot. The switch presented a challenge for Malek, who had to grapple with setting aside other people's expectations of what they thought a Freddie Mercury portrayal should look like.

"I would say singing and that are the two biggest obstacles for me. Everyone has a very particular relationship to him," Malek said. "What I realized is, here's a human being who appears to be superhuman at times. He struts on stage in a crown and cape. He's the closest thing we get to one of these Marvel characters."

It was important for Malek to try and demystify Mercury's superhero nature and instead access his humanity. In this case, empathy became more important than transformation.

"I said Rami, this is not someone that you need to fully embody," Malek said. "You want to understand him, you want to get as close as you can, but don't lose yourself entirely, As actors we're trying to get so far away from who we are, but I needed to hold onto so many things that I understood about him, that tethered us together."

Rami Malek, Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy & Joseph Mazzello star as Queen in Bohemian Rhapsody. (Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox)

To make every frame feel viscerally real, Malek had to put some of himself into the role. But emulating Mercury's wonderfully unique physical charisma provided a steep learning curve. To master this, he trained extensively with a movement coach.

"Polly Bennett was the person that allowed me to discover how he sat, how he walked into a room, and how he articulated himself while he was being a little more aggressive, when he was shy — how he would hold a cigarette," Malek said. "And then from then on we would just slowly but surely study people who inspired him — Liza Minnelli, Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie. But a lot of his movements come from Bob Fosse. We spent a lot of time watching that."

Both Malek and Bennett felt it was critical that all of Malek's gestures while shooting not be choreographed.

"It was very important for me to be as spontaneous as he was," Malek said. "Not only on stage but in every seat. To go in there and feel like my fellow actors were not quite going to know what I was going to do. That the audience in the concert scenes had no idea what was coming next."

Another key figure in Malek's physical journey towards becoming Freddie Mercury: makeup artist Jan Sewell.

"I needed the teeth," Malek said. "The teeth were the first moment when I thought oh! I never looked like him, but this is going to help — this is going to help immensely. It was something that Freddie was very insecure about. I wore them and I felt pretty insecure, but I felt a little bit closer to him. She got me as close as she could."

Malek also wore his prosthetic teeth and hair to his costume fittings.

"We would not only wear the most audacious and ostentatious things, we would think about what Freddie would think would be the best way to make a spectacle, what would flow on stage and what would have great reflection," Malek said. "What would enhance the concert performance."

A large part of Freddie Mercury's worldview came from the 'otherness' he'd experienced his whole life. Originally born Farrokh Bulsara to Zoroastrianism-practicing parents in Zanzibar, then spending his formative years at boarding school in India, you can safely say that his ascension to British rock god status wasn't particularly easy.

"It was an upheaval of an upbringing for him," Malek said. "He definitely did not fit in. His name was difficult to pronounce for so many and he didn't look like anybody else."

Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury in "Bohemian Rhapsody." (Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox)

The adversities he faced as an outsider fueled Mercury's desire to be the most inclusive artist he could be. That's something Malek deeply wanted to underscore in his portrayal.

"I think one thing that was beautiful about Freddie, something that was really revolutionary, is that he spoke to the outcast," Malek said. "You never see him in performance really looking at the first few rows. He's always looking to the back. That's something Polly pointed out to me. She said, look at where his eyes are going. He's trying to make sure everyone feels present here, everybody's sharing."

Freddie Mercury was somebody who refused to fit into any category the world tried to box him in. He would and could not be distilled to just one thing — that was the gift he gave his fans.

"He didn't want to be labeled, and he didn't want anybody else to be labeled," Malek said. "He was defiantly appreciative of everyone being their most authentic selves."

You can see Bohemian Rhapsody in theaters nationwide.

Editor's note: A version of this story also ran on the Frame. You can listen to that here.

You made it! Congrats, you read the entire story, you gorgeous human. This story was made possible by generous people like you. Independent, local journalism costs $$$$$. And now that LAist is part of KPCC, we rely on that support. So if you aren't already, be one of us! Help us help you live your best life in Southern California. Donate now.

Source: http://www.laist.com/2018/11/07/how_rami_malek_became_bohemian_rhapsodys_freddie_mercury_fake_teeth_and_fosse_walks.php

[thewritermuses]

You Have Never Seen Freddie Mercury So Vulnerable

Bohemian Rhapsody

10 Bohemian Rhapsody joins the recent glut of music bio-pics. It follows the formation of Queen and culminates in their performance at Live Aid, no spoilers as the film opens with this. While there is no doubt that much of this film is about queen and their rise, the film's protagonist is Freddie Mercury and the story is his. The screenwriter, Anthony McCarten, told this dual narrative well. We see Freddie go through a fairly typical hero's journey path. We also see Queen go through their journey. But they are not the same journeys. While the do parallel at points, such as the creation of Queen and Freddie becoming the performer we will always remember, there are parts in this film that are Freddie's alone. McCarten was nominated for Best Screenplay for AACTA and Outstanding film at the BAFTAs The highlight of this film is Rami Malek's performance as Freddie. Malek rightly won the Oscar for his dedicated portrayal of the iconic musician. All the preparation time he spent researching and doing singing and dancing classes for the role paid off. He worked closely with Polly Bennett, a movement coach, who helped Malek capture the spontaneity of Freddie. Becoming Freddie I cannot stress how brilliant Malek was. He was powerful and spontaneous and an all round brilliant performer. He inhabited the role and became Freddie. While the big performances on tour culminating in the Live Aid concert were spectacular they are not the best part of the performance. The best part of Malek's performance is his portrayal of Freddie's vulnerability. There are times in this film where Freddie is complete alone. He isn't understood by his family, he has no friends, and with false bravado he spurns the band. In these moments your heart breaks for Freddie as you can feel the loneliness and vulnerability through Malek's masterful performance. There is just so much going on inside Freddie and Malek allows it to ripple to the surface. It's beautiful to watch. What is Littlefinger doing at EMI Records? Aidan Gillen (GOT) plays John Reid, one of the producers from EMI. I haven't seen Gillen in too many roles (The Dark Knight Rises, The Wire, GOT). While he plays a relativly straight shooting good guy in The Wire I feel that his role in this film is too coloured by his role as Littlefinger in GOT. In Bohemian Rhapsody you aren't sure where his loyalties lie and I was always thinking that he was going to sell the band out, despite always taking action to the contrary. In the end he is himself sold out. Perhaps this is a good performance but I feel that it is more coloured (for me) by the role he is best known for in GOT. Was the music any good? The performances of the songs is brilliant film making and I am not surprised with the slew of awards and nominations the sound team received. Through them you see Queen's progression as a band and Freddie's progression as a performer. They also tell great stories about where songs came from and how they were made.

The most notable for me were Bohemian Rhapsody, We Will Rock You and Under Pressure. The development of these songs is exciting and super important for progression of the films narrative. Read the full article

[killermercurys]

Imagine x A night at the Oscars 🌟

The big night had finally arrived and everyone was so excited.

Rami looked adoringly at Lucy and gave her such a big grin right before he looked down at his Oscar which he clenched onto tightly.

Lucy: What on earth are you going to do with that thing?

Rami: Oh, I don’t know, probably just stick it on a shelf somewhere

Lucy: At home, I’d suppose

Rami: Home? that’s such an obscure thing, really

The two of them laugh and smile at one another as Rami plays with the engagement ring on Lucy’s finger that he gave her just the day before.

Ben: Joe, why did you just pull out a calendar?

I already know the date

Joe: You just don’t want to admit it

Ben: Joe, If you make that joke again I swear to god

Joe *aggressively points to calendar* All these dates and you ain’t got one hahahaha

Ben: But you’re sitting right next to me

Joe: why must you ruin every joke I make

Ben: Joe just because you’re Tim from Jurassic Park doesn’t mean you get to act like a dick to me

Joe *awkwardly looks for words*: Look, when we get home just please hang the calendar up because we need something to replace our wedding photo after you smashed it on the ground after you saw Ben Cardy in the bed again

Ben: *mumbles to himself*: that bitch

Gwilym: Hello, I’ve been here for two weeks can someone please talk to me?

I can’t really feel my legs, I feel like I’m a walking bamboo stick

Ben: Are you jOking?? I will throw bacon at you again, I will do it

Joe: Gwilym, you know we love you but please for the love of god shut up

Gwilym: Just happy to be here

Brian: I’ll deliver the speech, Roger

Roger: Oh of course you will because it’s always about you

Brian: I’m not saying that, Rog

Roger: It’s always about you big space man,

It wasn’t enough for you to play on top of fucking Kensington palace but now you have this to, hey, why don’t you just go fuck some stars while you’re at it

Brian: Hey, Roger there’s a car over there, I think it’s a Ferrari 308 GTB

Roger: Are you jOking?

Brian: no buddy, not today

Roger: oh shit reAlly???!!

Brian: oH dear god not again, it’s happening again, someone get a grease gun

Of course, in Roger Taylor fashion, Roger runs

Ben: ROGER NO

Allen: HELP us please

Aaron: We’ve been in there for a week

Gwilym: been where for a week?

Aaron: In the car of Ben’s trunk

Allen: it was pitch black but all we could see was torn up pieces of cardboard with the words “u thot” written in sharpie

Aaron: for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why but the pieces of cardboard looked like Ben

Joe *to Ben*: We’re getting a divorce

Ben: FinE, I have better things to do on my Saturday nights anyway

Ben *winks* at Gwilym

Gwilym: No, please, don’t do that again, ever

Conveniently right after the whole debacle the lights dim and the nominees are being announced:

Bohemian Rhapsody

Everyone simultaneously: yayyayaa oh my goddamn this amazing I’m so proud

Joe: Oh MY GOD YES!! Everybody else can go kiss our asses

Ben: Joe, when we get divorced I’m getting Ben Cardy - you bitch

Joe: then I’m taking the calendar you hoe

Again, conveniently the host speaks again:

Black Panther

The Favourite

BlacKkKlansman

Green Book

Vice

A Star is Born

Roma

And the winner is... Bohemian Rhapsody! Producers Graham King and Jim Beach

Everyone jumps up so excited while Roger and Brian hug each other

and Joe and Ben Kiss...

Rami grabs Lucy’s hand and they walk to the stage while Rami stands there for a sec

Lucy: Rami what’s wrong?

Rami: Nothing love, just looking at how beautiful you are

Lucy *blushing* thank you darling, now let’s go

Rami *with a big grin on his face*: I dub thee Mrs. Lucy Malek

Joe: For the last time Ben! Let go of my calendar or the tattoo gets it

Ben: Oh look at you, being a bitch, hey why don’t you go fuck some dinosaurs

Joe: and what did those poor dinosaurs ever do to you?

After a painful, awkward silence amongst the group they make there way up to the stage.

Bri heads up the stairs first while Roger annoyingly tries to cut in front of him, but of course that plan didn’t work. They are obviously followed by their wives Anita and Sarina. Then Rami comes behind them still clenching onto his well deserved Oscar as he also has Lucy’s hand in his grip. Joe and Ben then follow, you could only imagine what they hold in store:

Ben: For Christ’s sake Joe just leave calendar

Joe: If you really loved me then you’d let me have the goddamn calendar

Ben: I still love you, you idiotic, lovable bastard

Joe: duh I already knew that but awwww

Gwilym follows behind trying not to roll his eyes another 1000 feet back into his head while Aaron and Allen follow. As everyone is scrambling on stage marveling in the news we hear a set of footsteps quietly grace the stage A thunderous roar erupts from the audience as everyone rises on their feet because John Richard Deacon, born August 19th, 1951 just entered wearing a dazzling maroon colored suit of course to compliment Joe’s. Humble as always John stands there and takes a small bow. Reluctant but in awe, Joe walks over to John and the two link arms as Joe walks him over to Roger and Brian, who are both in a state of shock.

Roger: Deacy, I cant believe you’re here

Brian: After all this time

John Richard Deacon: It’s great to be here, I know Fred would love it

Roger: I’m sure he does

Now it’s time for the speech:

Brian: This is such a big honor, there are so many people to thank so let m-

Roger: What Brian is trying to say is that we have to thank our producers: Graham King, Jim Beach, & Dexter Fletcher who is also our amazing, hardworking director who showed us what art could be, what Queen could be. Thank you for John Ottman for giving us our sound and for making Queen and Fred sound alive again-

Brian: Rog also forgot to thank Polly Bennett our movement coach, thank you to Julian Day who made everybody jealous with Freddie’s wardrobe and a final thank you to Susie Figgis who casted these 4 talented, wonderful men.

Roger: Rami you did a wonderful tribute to Freddie and you brought our best friend back to life once again, thank you.

Brian: Thank you to every single cast and crew member who worked on this film even when it didn’t have a star yet.

Roger grabs the Oscar and says these words to the sky: This one’s for you Fred!

John Richard Deacon: Thank you everyone, goodnight!

As the audience applauded like mad, Rami turned around to see Freddie in a light blue suit leaning against the wall, smiling

Freddie: thank you, darling

*scene cuts to black and then cuts to what looks an apartment, Joe and 3 children are laying on the floor*

Joe: And that kids is the story of how I married, divorced and re-married your mother

Ben: Mother?? Are you jOking? *the kids distraught faces intensify*

Joe: eh, don’t worry kids he’ll get used to it, it’ll all be taken care of

*cuts to Ben Cardy peering out of the closet*

The End (for now)...

[thecrownnet]

What Josh O’Connor and Emma Corrin probably didn’t expect when they wrapped up filming on The Crown earlier this year, was that six months later they’d be promoting the show separate from one another, via video-link.

The pair are currently gearing up for the release of the fourth series of the hit Netflix drama. It will see Josh reprising his role as Prince Charles alongside Emma, who is joining the show as Lady Diana Spencer – the young woman who would soon become known to the world as Princess Diana.

“It’s great!” Josh jokes, when asked how he and Emma are finding promoting the show together, despite not being able to be in the same room.

“No, I’m joking, it’s not. It’s really weird not being next to Emma. Although we’re probably being better behaved, to be honest.”

“Josh, maybe everybody else is together and we’ve just been separated,” Emma suggests, to which he offers: “Maybe the whole of Covid was made up so that we’d be doing press separately, so that we’d behave.”

It’s good to see, if nothing else, that the two are getting along a lot better than their characters on screen...

But while Diana is an iconic figure who absolutely everybody has an opinion on, Emma – who, at 24 years old, hadn’t yet celebrated her second birthday when the late princess died – admits that her own feelings about the late princess were mostly influenced by her family.

“I had an awareness of her,” she explains. “She was kind of just always there. I can’t remember ever first learning about her, but my family are very fond of her.

“Some people are quite divided by her, but my family – and my mum particularly – is just so fond of her, and has a real empathy with her. So Diana has always kind of been a martyred figure to me.

“I feel like I got to know her better [through doing The Crown], like I’ve uncovered a lot of things, and I feel I understand her experience. But also, part of my whole process of becoming the character is actually letting go of trying to understand her, because A, that is never possible, B, The Crown is fiction, and this is like my interpretation of her.

“I’m very fond of her, though,” she adds.

Emma says that for her, like many people, it’s Diana’s “sense of fun” that stood out when researching for the role.

“That’s something I’d always known was there, because I think that’s why so many people are so drawn to her, and why they felt like she was such an un-royal person, I suppose,” Emma says.

The new series will also dive into many of Diana’s personal troubles, including her eating disorder and other struggles with her mental health.

Emma – who is joining the cast alongside Sex Education’s Gillian Anderson, joining as prime minister Margaret Thatcher – notes that while she felt a pressure to make sure these moments were portrayed with sensitivity and accuracy, she also thinks they’re important aspects of Diana’s story that shouldn’t be glossed over.

“It’s something that I was really concerned about, getting it right, from the off,” Emma recalls. “I was working with Polly Bennett, an incredible movement and character coach, and we were reading the scripts and we noticed that they put the bulimia scenes in, but they kind of alluded to it.

“During my research [I learned that] Diana spoke very candidly about her struggles with mental health and that kind of thing, and so I felt that I really wanted to show it. I didn’t want to just suggest that she was going through and experiencing these things.

“I wanted to do it justice, because I think it’s important these things, especially these days, are represented on screen.”

*Spoilers ahead*

To make sure things were done right, Emma did a lot of research, which included reading up on eating disorders and speaking to people in forums who’d been affected by bulimia.

However, she admits that she still wasn’t prepared for how tough filming the scenes in question would be.

“I kind of underestimated how hard it would be,” Emma recalls. “I was like, ‘it’ll just be like crying on screen, you just get into the zone’... but it was not fun. But I felt like it was important, and so I kind of just did it.”

Charles and Diana’s rocky relationship will be one of the key storylines in the upcoming series of The Crown, and both Josh and Emma were keen to make sure the story was told with as much balance as possible.

“It is interesting, isn’t it? Maybe it kind of tips to one side a little bit, the story, about the Diana and Charles marriage,” Josh muses.

“But I think ultimately – and we talked a lot about this when we prepped for it – no one ever knows about the failing of any marriage. There are always two sides to the story.”

He continues: “I was fortunate enough to have a bit of time on season three to kind of lay out the ‘sympathetic Charles’, and to hopefully have people on my side for a little bit – get them on side, trick them into it! – and then pull the rug from under them a little bit. And that was an exciting thing for me.

“But as we’ve talked about before, he loves Diana. And he does love her at various different stages, in varying levels of love and in different ways. And the failure of the marriage, I think, is as heartbreaking for him as it is for Diana. It’s tragic for everyone involved.

“And Emma and I have often talked about how in reality, there are two young boys – well, not so young anymore – who came out of that marriage, who, I would say, seem to be pretty good eggs. And so I think that there must have been so much love there, as a family.

“But I think it was important to me that we represented that in a kind of authentic way.”

The fourth series of The Crown debuts on Netflix on Sunday 15 November.