Queen call Sacha Baron Cohen an 'arse' who lied about Freddie Mercury film

by Richard Howard

April 11, 2016

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'We decided he wasn’t right for the role... which will become apparent if you watch what he’s done recently.'

Like many people, I was pretty jacked in 2010 to hear that Borat star Sacha Baron Cohen was slated to play legendary Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in an upcoming biopic.

Sadly, three years later it was announced that Cohen had dropped out. Most reports at the time attributed the split to Cohen wanting an R-rated, ‘warts and all’ film while the band was hoping for a family-friendly affair. Queen guitarist Brian May refuted this, saying the decision was made because Cohen’s presence would be “distracting,” adding “the man who plays Freddie, you have to really believe is Freddie. And we didn’t think that could really happen with Sacha.”

Since then, the project has stalled with the filmmakers unable to lock down a star or director. Last month, Cohen expanded on the events surrounding his leaving the project in a Howard Stern interview. Seems Brian May has heard it, and dude is PISSED.

In the Stern interview, Cohen explained that he wanted the movie to focus on Mercury’s “extreme lifestyle” and the “amazing stories” that resulted. He also conceded he never should have continued his involvement with the project after the first meeting with the band, when an unnamed member revealed that Mercury would die in the middle of the movie and the remainder of the film would focus on Queen carrying on “from strength to strength.”

Cohen said he attempted to bring in heavyweights like The Queen scribe Peter Morgan and The Social Network director David Fincher, but the band wasn’t having it. While the Grimsby star took care to be extremely diplomatic, Stern (of course) mocked the band’s film concept mercilessly, describing it as a movie no one would want to see.

In a new interview with The Daily Mail, Brian May pretty much lost it on the actor. “Sacha became an arse,” the guitarist told the UK publication. “We had some nice times with Sacha kicking around ideas but he went off and told untruths about what happened. 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.” And that was him holding back – he went on to pretty much call Cohen a shit actor:

“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. We’re hoping Ben Whishaw will do it. He’s fabulous – a real actor.”

Damn, son. It remains to be seen whether May and the film’s other producers land Spectre actor Ben Whishaw, but one thing’s for sure: there won’t be a surprise return by the man formerly known as Ali G.

Tags: Music, News, Brian May, Freddie Mercury, Queen, Sacha Baron Cohen

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