Fucking Your Teeth in a Role: Transforming Rami Malek into Freddie Mercury for "Bohemian Rhapsody"

It seems trivial, his extraordinary musical talent, to focus on the teeth of Freddie Mercury, but if you want to make a film about the legendary leader of Queen, you can not underestimate this supremacy.

Rami Malek has already won a Golden Globe, a SAG Award and a BAFTA, and is nominated for an Oscar, for his portrayal of Mercury in "Bohemian Rhapsody," a singer born with four additional incisors – "More Space in my mouth means more reach, "he proclaimed in the movie.

But even Malek admits he could not have done it without the man behind that mouth: Chris Lyons, dental technician by profession.

"It's the biggest film on the teeth I've worked on," Lyons said.

He does real dental work for real people in his offices outside London, but he has a parallel business, called Fangs FX. He helped monsters, and those monstrously famous. He gave Meryl Streep a set of Margaret Thatcher's teeth for "The Iron Lady" and gave Tilda Swinton a mouthful of her work also for "Snowpiercer". And he helped John Lithgow get Winston Churchill's "jowls" for "The Crown".

As Lithgow told "Sunday Morning" in 2017, Lyons "created those two little spots that clicked on my back to inflate my face, but that also changed my diction."

But when asked to replenish Freddie Mercury's teeth, Lyons was worried that he might have bitten more than he could chew.

Correspondent Lee Cowan asked, "When the offer was first presented to you, it's quite disheartening in this particular case, on all the teeth you've done, because they almost look like a character. "

"It's an iconic set of teeth for an iconic character from an iconic group," Lyons said. "Everyone knows Freddie's teeth, and yes, I was very worried."

As the story progressed, Mercury did not want to change teeth because he was afraid it would change the sound of his voice.

Lyons started making a set of incisors the same size as Mercury, but when worn by Malek, it was too much: "It was too ridiculous because it became a total caricature," said Lyons .

So, he continued to reduce them.

Teeth, however, were only the first bite of a transformation that makeup artist Jan Sewell and denture designer Mark Coulier had to finish. Coulier said, "[Malek] really does not look like Freddie Mercury, so you have to dial the number and then pick something that will just enhance or create a essence of [him]. "

Creating this "essence" of Freddie Mercury would also involve some nose work, to match Mercury's aquiline nose.

It was carved in Coulier Creatures FX, a macabre place where disembodied heads fix you from almost every angle. "We did a face casting of Rummy, but we also printed that head in 3D," said Coulier. "So when you carve the room, you know it's going to go with his eyebrows."

A 3D print of the actor's head.

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There was also the hair that Mercury had so often exhibited, starting with his ultra-thin mustache of the 80s.

Sewell showed Cowan the application of the mustache, built on a fine lace: "Each hair is individually knotted on this extremely fine lace."

"And did you also put on your chest?" Cowan asked.

"Yeah, because he was just not as furry as Freddie."

"And even the underarm hair?"

"No, it's all his, he can take credit for all that!"

When the final look was fully assembled, the resemblance was almost mysterious.

Rummy Malek (left) in the role of Freddie Mercury and the real thing (right).

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"He did not go out as a Rummy, then went into Freddie," Lyons said. "He came out like Freddie and it was just like:" Oh my God, it's going to really work, I think we've cracked it, I think. "

There's no Oscar for the best supportive teeth, but another big win for Rami Malek at tonight's Academy Awards will definitely leave him all smiles.

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Story produced by Mikaela Bufano.

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