Did you know there was once a time when Sacha Baron Cohen was tapped to play Freddie Mercury in a film about the legendary British rock band Queen? This project would later evolve into what the movie-goers in 2018 saw as Bryan Singer’s Bohemian Rhapsody. Although Rami Malek’s embodiment of the renowned lead vocalist was incredible enough to win him multiple accolades, including an Academy Award, it does make us wonder what Baron Cohen’s portrayal would’ve been like.
Read also: Sacha Baron Cohen Hints He Doesn’t Get To Play Characters That Interest Him!
The initial casting seems glaringly unexpected. The notion of the comedian taking on Freddie Mercury seems intriguing, given how we are used to seeing him on-screen. It is said that the version of the story he had in mind was gritty in a warts-and-all fashion, so much so that it got to the point where he quit the project due to creative differences with the band itself!
Sacha Baron Cohen’s Take On The Biopic Differed From The Band
Plans for a Queen biopic were initially made public in September 2010. It was soon announced that the Borat star would be playing the lead role of Freddie Mercury, with Peter Morgan slated to pen the screenplay. Although band member and lead guitarist Brian May had voiced his approval for Baron Cohen at the beginning, he was also cautious about wanting to protect the legendary lead vocalist’s insurmountable legacy.
A few years later, in 2013, news that the actor-comedian had walked away from the project sparked a lot of headlines. Audiences couldn’t fully grasp the circumstances surrounding the Hugo alum’s decision to leave until 2016. Making an appearance on The Howard Stern Show, Sacha Baron Cohen divulged the reasons behind his departure from the project:
“There are amazing stories about Freddie Mercury. Crazy! The guy was wild. He was living an extreme lifestyle. Debauchery. […] There are stories of little people, with plates of cocaine on their heads, walking around parties!”
In his portrayal of the iconic vocalist’s decadent lifestyle, the comedian wished to exhibit no reluctance. He wanted to tackle the nitty-gritty—the intricate life beyond the stage. However, the Grimsby star empathized with the band members and their motivations in wanting to protect Queen and Mercury’s legacy.
He disclosed an anecdote involving a conversation with one of the members. This tale underscored the comedian’s creative differences with Queen on the plot and events of the movie and how they would unfold.
Sacha Baron Cohen Disagreed With How The Biopic’s Plot Would Unfold
In The Howard Stern Show episode, Baron Cohen also revealed the conversation he had with one of the active members of the band during their first meeting about the biopic. When the show host asked him why the comedian wasn’t upfront about his version of the tale, The Dictator alum revealed that he should’ve pulled out of the project after this initial meeting.
Without naming the member, Sacha Baron Cohen offered listeners a glimpse into this reported conversation:
“My first meeting, I should’ve never carried on. A member of the band—I won’t say who—said, ‘This is such a great movie because it’s got such an amazing thing that happens in the middle.’ And I go: ‘What happens in the middle of the movie?’”
Related: Rami Malek Played Freddie Mercury After Queen Rejected Hugh Jackman’s Les Misérables Co-Star!
He continued:
“He goes: ‘You know, Freddie dies.’ … I go: ‘What happens in the second half of the movie?’ He goes: ‘We see how the band carries on from strength to strength.’”
The comedian initially thought the band member envisioned a Pulp Fiction-esque non-linear narrative structure for the biopic. However, when the response revealed that they wanted to focus on how Queen carried on after Mercury passed away in 1991, Sacha Baron Cohen expressed his true feelings on this storytelling decision:
“I said: ‘Listen, not one person is going to see a movie where the lead character dies from AIDS and then, you carry on [as a band].’”
Amid the reports of creative differences, what did the active band members think about the Borat star being let go? Drummer Roger Taylor told NME (via The Guardian), “We felt Sacha probably wasn’t right in the end. We didn’t want it to be a joke.” On the other hand, Brian May stated to Classic Rock Magazine (via UCR), “[I]n the end we felt that his presence in the movie would be very distracting,”
Post the buffer period that the endeavor suffered, the project later found Rami Malek and the rest is history. Bohemian Rhapsody earned $910.8 million at the worldwide box office, and Malek’s performance reaped critical favor and an Academy Award for Best Actor.
