Queen Member Says Sacha Baron Cohen Blatantly Lied About Freddie Mercury Biopic
Lots of people were excited for the announced biopic film about the life of Freddie Mercury and the iconic band Queen. Sacha Baron Cohen seemed to be the perfect choice to play the legendary frontman due to his incredibly visual similarity to Freddie Mercury as well as his experience singing in musical films like Sweeney Todd and Les Misérables. However, shortly after Sacha Baron Cohen was announced for the project, word spread that the filmmakers would be finding someone else to play Freddie Mercury.
As previously reported by the Inquisitr, the reason for the actor’s departure was recently explained by Sacha Baron Cohen himself, who claimed that a living member of Queen wanted Freddie Mercury to die in the very middle of the film.
“A member of the band, I won’t say who, he said, ‘This is such a great movie because it’s got such an amazing thing that happens in the middle of the movie,'” Sacha Baron Cohen told Howard Stern. “I go, ‘What happens in the middle of the movie?’ He goes, ‘Freddie dies.'”
While the death of Freddie Mercury is a large part of the singer’s tragic tale, Cohen reportedly wanted the movie to tell the full story of Mercury’s life “warts n’ all.” But the unnamed band member hoped the biopic would continue on without Freddie Mercury to show how Queen “carried on from strength to strength.”
However, the Daily Mail recently spoke with surviving Queen member Brian May, who revealed that Sacha Baron Cohen was blatantly lying about why he left the project.
“Sacha became an ar**,” May explained. “We had some nice times with Sacha kicking around ideas but he went off and told untruths about what happened.”
May went on to explain that it wasn’t because Mercury was supposed to die in the middle of the film that Cohen left — it was because the remaining members of Queen didn’t think Sacha Baron Cohen was the right man to fill the role of Freddie Mercury.
“Why would he go away and say that we didn’t want to make a gritty film? Are we the kind of people who have ever ducked from the truth? I don’t think so. We decided he wasn’t right for the role for very good reasons, which will become apparent if you watch what he’s done recently. It’s obvious that it wasn’t going to work, him playing Freddie. It wouldn’t suspend your disbelief.”
Brian May also named the actor they would prefer to play Freddie Mercury over Sacha Baron Cohen.
“We’re hoping Ben Whishaw will do it,” May said. “He’s fabulous – a real actor.”
According to Billboard, Whishaw’s name has been kicked around as a replacement for Sacha Baron Cohen since last year, but he still hasn’t been officially cast as Freddie Mercury.
It does seem that the members of Queen are heavily involved with the planning of the film. Brian May claims they’re working hard to hire the right people for the project, including a director. He was also asked who would be stepping in to play himself.
“We don’t know yet,” May said. “It’s a tough one. We’ll have a director – although we still haven’t signed one up – and then hopefully we can step back and just look after the music side of it. We have arrived at a great storyline. But the film’s not going out till it’s right.”
Do you think Sacha Baron Cohen was really lying about why he left the film? And who do you think would be the perfect actor to play Freddie Mercury?
[Photos by Anthony Harvey and Pablo Cuadra/Getty Images]
