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The filming of Bohemian Rhapsody was now finished and Joe still hadn't heard or seen anything from John Deacon, the man he had been chosen to play. While Brian May and Roger Taylor were executive producers for the movie and always visited the cast to watch them, give tips or just have a nice chat, the bassist wasn't involved in the making of his band's biopic at all. He'd only sent one of his sons to talk to Joe at some point during the production and that's all he'd done. He didn't want to be ungrateful, but believing John himself would ever show up remained a dream for him.
As the time passed and the project was getting closer to its end, he was starting to feel self conscious. Was he not happy with Joe's portrayal of him? He thought he'd done everything as accurate as he could. He'd probably seen at least snippets of the film if Brian and Roger had kept him updated, so maybe he didn't want to have anything to do with him because of the way he played the role? Joe tried to make the best out of it, even if perhaps the script wasn't that good - which could be the other reason he didn't want to be involved. He really did his best. No one would believe him if he told them how much live footage, interviews and documentaries about Queen he'd watched to get prepared for the role. For months he'd been learning to play bass guitar and to talk in John's accent and he even permed his hair as well as he worked to get his facial expressions right. You couldn't say he didn't put effort in his job.
As a lover of Queen, being cast in their biopic had already been a dream come true, so maybe destiny didn't mean it so good with him that he was actually able to meet the person - the bass legend - he was playing.
Nonetheless, he stayed optimistic, even as John stayed silent. Until the film premiere at Wembley Arena, where - surprise - John didn't make an appearance either. Of course he understood that he didn't want to be in the limelight anymore since Freddie had passed away, but he wished he'd at least given him some sign of life.
But the day after the premiere - it was around 12 a.m. when he woke up, so you couldn't exactly call it morning - he came across a new e-mail in his inbox and this time it wasn't spam. It was the man himself. John Deacon.
"Dear Mr Mazzello,
I've seen Bohemian Rhapsody and I must say you did a good job portraying me. I'm very proud of you! Thank you for helping keep Queen's legacy alive. After not being on the set throughout the whole production, I'd like to meet you at my house tomorrow at 2 p.m. to make up for my absence."
There were already tears in Joe's eyes, making his vision blurry as he read the address he wanted him to be at the next day. It finally happened! He'd already given up on hoping he'd hear anything from him, but here he was, reading John's e-mail in which he asked to meet him in person. Technically, his flight back to New York would leave before the time he should be at John's place, but how could he decline this invitation? He was going to meet John fucking Deacon and that was a once in a lifetime experience! His fingers were shaking as he typed a reply, constantly deleting sentences because he was so nervous it would sound too fanboy-ish. He couldn't wait for the next day to come.
Although half of the day had already passed by now, it felt like ages until he finally got the reminder from his phone. While thinking about what to wear, he was brought back to his teenage years when he would pick five different outfits for prom and end up choosing the first one. He took a taxi to get to John's house and sat in it for one more minute to check in the selfie camera of his phone if he looked good enough before paying the driver and slowly stepping closer to the front door. His heart was beating faster than Ben on the drums trying to learn to play them as soon as possible after lying to the casting directors.
Just when he was about to calm down and knock on the door, an elder woman called out to him from the garden. "Can I help you?"
He turned around to her and smiled. "I'm Joe Mazzello. I was told to be here at 2 p.m."
"Oh yes, John told me about you!" She opened the door and motioned for him to come inside. "John, Mr Mazzello is here," she said as she disappeared in the living room.
Joe followed her hesitantly and spotted John Deacon sitting in the armchair next to the radio. And there the confidence left him again. As Veronica left the two of them alone, the older man got up from his seat and held out his hand. "Hello. Nice to meet you."
"H-hello," he stammered, but he soon found his cool again - or rather the ability to handle this situation. He was still completely starstruck. "It's an honor to meet you, really."
John smiled, crinkles forming around his eyes. "Please sit down. Veronica is making tea if you want a cup?"
The ginger nodded. "That would be nice."
Joe was getting all nervous again when he noticed John staring at him, even though it wasn't a derogatory stare or anything like that. He cleared his throat and leaned forward a bit, giving him an apologetic smile. "First of all, I'd like to apologize for not showing up during the filming of Bohemian Rhapsody, but it seems you did a pretty good job without my help."
"Thank you so much. It means a lot to me," Joe said, his heartbeat quickening once more. He respected this man so much and it felt weird to be sitting in the same room as him, only a few feet apart. "I thought you hated my portrayal and that's why you never visited us. You must know I didn't want to disappoint you in any way," he apologized, but John shook his head.
"It wasn't that. Actually, I'm proud of you for doing so well in the film." He leaned back again. "No, I just don't want all the attention that comes with this film. I mean it's amazing how many young people get into our music now, but if I had been involved in the production, I would be in the public eye again and as you know, I've been living in private for 21 years now and I prefer to stay like this. So, it's nothing against you or anyone else in the cast! You all did the best you could with the script. Although I wish it had been more truthful… but I guess if you want detailed information, there are still documentaries. It's mainly for entertainment purposes and that's good."
Joe looked at him in awe all the time. It felt almost surreal and those nice words coming from John Deacon himself - the person he'd been most scared of disappointing - were on a whole other level than the compliments other people had given him for his role. "I totally understand why you don't want that. Please don't feel like I'm blaming you! I just felt insecure about the way I played you, that's all."
The men thanked Veronica when she brought them two cups of tea before John continued with a warm smile. "I don't feel attacked, don't worry. I know what it feels like to put effort in your work and still feeling like you didn't do it right."
Somehow Joe had gotten much more relaxed in the past few minutes than he had been when he'd entered this house. Talking to John also felt less stiff by now and after a while they even sat outside in the garden, talking and laughing about all kind of things. It had become more like a friendly conversation with an old acquaintance than a more or less necessary meeting to make up for John's absence during the making of Queen's movie.
In the late afternoon it was time for Joe to finally leave. While this encounter with John had turned out to be better and longer than he'd anticipated, he didn't know if he would see him again, but even if he never would, he could fly back home with great memories of a Saturday afternoon with John Deacon.