Malek
It was a night fit for a Queen. Or rather, a night fit for the actor, who played the role of the front man of the rock band, Queen.
Rami Malek, the American actor who portrayed the iconic Freddie Mercury in the movie “Bohemian Rhapsody,” won Best Actor in the 91st Academy Awards held at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, California.
Malek’s portrayal of the late Freddie Mercury has generated positive reviews when it came out in the theatres in November 2018.
In his acceptance speech, a humble Malek expressed his gratitude to the movie’s cast and crew referring them to as “my equals” and “my betters.”
“Thank you, Queen. Thank you, guys, for allowing me to be the tiniest part of your phenomenal, extraordinary legacy. I am forever in your debt . . . I may not have been the obvious choice, but I guess it worked out . . . My crew and my cast, I love you. You are my equals. You are my betters,” he said.
This is Malek’s first Academy Award. Malek did not miss mentioning his race history sharing that he is the son of immigrants from Egypt.
“To anyone struggling with (their identity) and trying to discover their voice. Listen, we made a film about a gay man, an immigrant . . . We’re longing for stories like this. I am the son of immigrants from Egypt. I’m a first-generation American. Part of my story is being written right now,” added Malek..
The most anticipated awards night started with the performance of the reconstituted famed rock band Queen (plus Adam Lambert) belting out “We Are The Champions” and “We Will Rock You.”
Aside from Malek’s win as Best Actor, Bohemian Rhapsody also won Best Film Editing, Best Sound Mixing and Best Sound Editing.
Green Book won as Best Picture while Olivia Colman of The Favorite won the Best Actress Award.
Mahershala Ali (Green Book) won Best Supporting Actor while Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk) was Best Supporting Actress.
The song “Shallow” from the movie “A Star is Born” starring Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga won as Best Original Song.
Other winners are: Best Original Score Black Panther — Ludwig Goransson; Best Adapted Screenplay: BlacKkKlansman — Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott and Spike Lee; Best Original Screenplay: Green Book — Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly ; Best Live Action Short Film: Skin; Best Visual Effects: First Man; Best Documentary — Short Subject: Period. End of Sentence ; Best Animated Short Film: Bao; Best Animated Feature Film: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse; Best Film Editing: Bohemian Rhapsody; Best Foreign Language Film: Roma — Mexico; Best Sound Mixing: Bohemian Rhapsody; Best Sound Editing: Bohemian Rhapsody; Best Cinematography: Roma; Best Production Design: Black Panther ; Best Costume Design: Black Panther ; Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Vice ; and Best Documentary — Feature: Free Solo./dcb