Sacha Baron Cohen too recognizable for Freddie Mercury biopic
By Tribute on October 11, 2013 | 2 Comments
Queen guitarist Brian May claims Sacha Baron Cohen was considered too distracting to portray lead singer Freddie Mercury in a long-planned biopic. “It seemed like a good idea in the beginning but the truth is, he’s too recognizable,” May said in a Daily Mirror interview. “He’s very much a style and a character. I think that he would have been very distracting. That’s the conclusion we came to.” Cohen left the project earlier this year due to creative differences. It was believed that he wanted a racy portrayal of Mercury that revealed “warts and all,” while band members were looking for a family-friendly retelling of his life. Queen drummer Roger Taylor denied this was the case, feeling it would be too comedic with Cohen attached. “We felt Sacha probably wasn’t right in the end. We didn’t want it to be a joke,” he told NME.com in September. “We want people to be moved.” Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Peter Morgan was attached to pen the script, but left following Cohen’s departure. According to recent reports, Queen, who is producing the biopic, is looking at Captain America’s Dominic Cooper to replace Cohen. ~Raj-Kabir Birk
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They really messed up letting him go. Hopefully it turns out great though.
Nothing family friendly at all about the singer’s private life.