Freddie Mercury is a music legend. Love him or hate him, Mercury’s amazing vocal range and commanding stage presence rocketed him and his band Queen to stardom and marked the man as one of the most well known and loved rock icons of the last century.
Making a movie about Freddie Mercury’s life seemed like a no-brainer, but just who could they cast to play the many complex sides of the larger than life Mercury? To find a person who not only looked enough like Mercury, but had access to that weird energy he could draw out of people and inhabit to star in a biopic about Freddie must of been a daunting task for anyone to cast, but everyone thought they had hit pay dirt when Sacha Baron Cohen became attached to the project…
Alas, twas not to be.
Fellow Queen bandmate, Brian May, who is helping develop the upcoming film (along with Queen drummer Roger Taylor) recently spoke to music magazine Classic Rock about the details surrounding Cohen’s dismissal.
“What led us to that conclusion was the last three movies that he’s made – The Dictator, Les Miserables and Hugo – in which he makes outstanding performances, but they’re very much Sacha Baron Cohen performances. And we thought there has to be no distraction in the Freddie movie. You have to really suspend that disbelief – the man who plays Freddie, you have to really believe is Freddie. And we didn’t think that could really happen with Sacha.”
So it appears that the reason is that like Mercury, Cohen has too strong a cult of personality to be anybody else but himself. Cohen’s work up to this point has been characters either he or other people have created, and in that realm Cohen can inject himself into the gaps. To wholly transform into a fully actualized real life person is a talent Cohen has let to show us he has, most likely he’d try and throw in one of his usual character ticks and that would throw the whole movie out of whack. What makes Cohen so like Mercury is the very same reason he could never play the man.
So What do you folks think? Are you excited to see a movie About Freddie Mercury and who do think should play him? Oh, and as a bonus let’s hear what your favorite Queen or Freddie Mercury song is as well!
Here is my favorite Queen song:
Rock On!
Via Classic Rock