Sacha Baron Cohen to Play Freddie Mercury

Eyesore wrote:

Wonder why Cohen is out of the picture. He would have done a brilliant job, I think.

Queen wanted a more mainstream portrayal of Freddie Mercury, where apparently Cohen wanted to show the more decadent side to Mercury's life.

manny wrote:

Eyesore wrote:

Wonder why Cohen is out of the picture. He would have done a brilliant job, I think.

Queen wanted a more mainstream portrayal of Freddie Mercury, where apparently Cohen wanted to show the more decadent side to Mercury's life.

So Cohen wanted to make it memorable and interesting, and the other guys wanted boring. Gotcha.   

Eyesore wrote:

manny wrote:

Eyesore wrote:

Wonder why Cohen is out of the picture. He would have done a brilliant job, I think.

Queen wanted a more mainstream portrayal of Freddie Mercury, where apparently Cohen wanted to show the more decadent side to Mercury's life.

So Cohen wanted to make it memorable and interesting, and the other guys wanted boring. Gotcha.   

Yea, I read that the guys in Queen didn't want Borat playing Freddie. He might have had the look down, but they were afraid of him being too over-the-top in his performance. So yea, boring PG-13 instead of interesting R. Oh well.

Brian and Roger seem very, very protective of Freddie's legacy and his privacy.

Cohen is a brilliant actor. His comedic ventures aside, I think he would have done a brilliant job.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Eyesore wrote:

manny wrote:

Eyesore wrote:

Wonder why Cohen is out of the picture. He would have done a brilliant job, I think.

Queen wanted a more mainstream portrayal of Freddie Mercury, where apparently Cohen wanted to show the more decadent side to Mercury's life.

So Cohen wanted to make it memorable and interesting, and the other guys wanted boring. Gotcha.   

Yea, I read that the guys in Queen didn't want Borat playing Freddie. He might have had the look down, but they were afraid of him being too over-the-top in his performance. So yea, boring PG-13 instead of interesting R. Oh well.

Brian and Roger seem very, very protective of Freddie's legacy and his privacy.

It makes sense, they considered him family, not just a friend or bandmate.

Brain May talked to Rolling Stone about the decision...

Quote :

Now May tells Rolling Stone: “There was a story put out that Sacha had walked out in disgust, but none of that was true. We parted amicably – we’re still in touch and we’re still good friends.

“We just came to the conclusion that it wasn’t going to work with Sacha in the leading role. He’s brilliant; but we felt having him in there would be distracting because he’s such a powerful persona.

“The characters he makes tend to stand out in a way that wouldn’t be suitable for the film. Freddie has to be completely believable – you have to not question for an instant that you’re watching Freddie, and that couldn’t have happened with Sacha.”

May noticed the problem after seeing Borat creator Cohen in Hugo, Les Misarables and The Dictator. “It didn’t occur to us straight away,” the guitarist admits. “He came to us with a lot of great thoughts and great ideas and a lot of enthusiasm.

“It dawned on us slowly as we started to look at what he had done in Hugo. We thought, ‘No, this isn’t going to work,’ and I think that anyone who sees those films will probably have the same feelings.

“We really were enjoying working with him, but you just have to come to a realistic decision in the end.”

Who?..... Well hopefully they did the right thing. I don't know who this other guy is but I know that Sasha probably would have had freddys moves down. I could see how they would take Sashas other movies into consideration but they shouldn't compare it to what they want him to do. Comedians do serious roles all the time. OH well... heres hoping they didn't just make a mistake.

Phoenix Reign Drummer wrote:

I could see how they would take Sashas other movies into consideration but they shouldn't compare it to what they want him to do. Comedians do serious roles all the time.

I'm not so sure it's a comparison to what he's done in the past but rather a fear that it might turn into a Sacha Baron Cohen movie i.e. he would be the main drawcard and not the fact that it's a movie about Freddie Mercury. At least that's how I interpreted the statement.

Citanul wrote:

Phoenix Reign Drummer wrote:

I could see how they would take Sashas other movies into consideration but they shouldn't compare it to what they want him to do. Comedians do serious roles all the time.

I'm not so sure it's a comparison to what he's done in the past but rather a fear that it might turn into a Sacha Baron Cohen movie i.e. he would be the main drawcard and not the fact that it's a movie about Freddie Mercury.  At least that's how I interpreted the statement.

your probably right lol

Phoenix Reign Drummer wrote:

Citanul wrote:

Phoenix Reign Drummer wrote:

I could see how they would take Sashas other movies into consideration but they shouldn't compare it to what they want him to do. Comedians do serious roles all the time.

I'm not so sure it's a comparison to what he's done in the past but rather a fear that it might turn into a Sacha Baron Cohen movie i.e. he would be the main drawcard and not the fact that it's a movie about Freddie Mercury.  At least that's how I interpreted the statement.

your probably right lol

But that logic makes sense, you want people to recognize the lead. Its a good way to put butts in the seats and appeal to mainstream america.

That's a shame Sacha Baron Cohen is a very talented guy, but I've thought that he needs to expand his repertoire beyond caricatures of his own creation. This could have been perfect for him. I think that as a general rule, comedians do a good job with straight acting roles (although the term straight acting, may be inappropriate if you are playing Freddie!   )

I hope the film is good as I love Queen and Freddie was such an awesome performer.