The 34^th Annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival honored Oscar nominated actor Rami Malek with an intimate tribute and the Outstanding Performer of the Year Award last night.

He received this award for the 2018 release of Bohemian Rhapsody.

In attendance to this tribute were his Bohemian Rhapsody co-stars Joe Mazzello and Lucy Boynton. Mazzello presented the award to Malek during the tribute.

During the tribute, Malek said, “As soon as I felt like I might be playing [Freddy Mercury], I wasn’t going to be caught off guard and I sat down with some choreographers in London and realized I needed to be able to invent things on the spot.”

He thanked the surviving members of Queen on set including Brian May by saying, “Without them, we wouldn’t have the story and they could have harped on anything that didn’t seem genuine. Right from the start, Brian May came in there and he wanted us to succeed. He was extending all the love and admiration and acceptance, most of all. He would say, ‘I can’t believe you guys are telling our story.’ I looked forward to the days when he was there because it made me want to give my best Freddie.”

The red carpet was also attended by several filmmakers and cast who had their films showcased at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival that day. The attendees included director Tom Donahue for This Changes Everything, director Kasper Torsting for In Love and War, director Ross Clarke for The Bird Catcher, producer Lisa G. Black for The Bird Catcher, writer Trond Morten Kristensen, director Nic Davis and producer Tim Williams for documentary Enormous: The Gorge Story and director Vanessa Filho for Angel Face. Some of the cast members of The Bird Catcher walked on the red carpet, including Jacob Cedergren and Arthur Hakalathi.

Watch the red carpet interviews below.

Source: LRM Exclusive