Bohemian Rhapsody: The SURPRISING way Freddie Mercury’s sister reacted to Rami Malek

Malek is winning plaudits for his performance in Bohemian Rhapsody, which is on course to be one of the most successful musical movies of all time. This success has all been despite lacklustre reviews and ongoing difficulties and setbacks during the production process.

Speaking in a US TV interview last month, Malek described the moment Mercury’s sister Kashmira Cooke saw him kitted-out as the late superstar.

He told Jimmy Kimmel: “I met his sister, she got to see me as young Freddie with long hair and the teeth, make-up, the whole 1970s, early glam-rock look.”

But in a surprising turn of events, an overwhelmed Cooke “laughed” at him.

He added: “As you can imagine it was an incredibly bizarre, alien moment for her.”

When Kimmel said he would have expected her to be in tears, Malek clarified: “Later on, it was a very emotional moment.

“On a serious note, she wrote me the most moving email, it was very powerful.

“To get that vote of appreciation from the people who were closest to him was everything for me.”

It’s not just Mercury’s family who gave Malek their support: his Queen bandmate Brian May has also been very complimentary.

“He’s incredible… without doubt he’ll be on the nominations list for an Oscar and well deserved as well,” he told Press Association.

“He inhabited Freddie to the point where we even started to think of him as Freddie. Really remarkable.”

Malek’s next film in UK cinemas will be Papillon, an exclusive clip of which you can watch right here.

That movie, which also stars Charlie Hunnam, will hit UK cinemas on December 21.

Bohemian Rhapsody is out now.