Few casting decisions have ever been as perfectly straightforward / sign-him-the-fuck-up-now as the one to slot Sasha Baron Cohen into the titular role of the upcoming Freddie Mercury biopic. Of course, that went to shit quite recently, as Cohen claimed Queen’s surviving members shot down his gritty vision in favour of a more uplifting tale.
Spoilers: the bloke died of complications from AIDS, so we’re willing to side with Cohen’s darker take here. Like Freddie without a three-quarter-length mic stand, Cohen said the current direction just doesn’t have the same vibe – but now, guitar-slinger Brian May has returned fire, saying “Sacha became such an arse” during the conceptual process.
“Are we the kind of people who have ever ducked from the truth? I don’t think so….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.”
BURN.
Anyway, with Borat out of the running, May said the band were moving forward with Ben Whishaw for the role, describing him as “fabulous, a real actor.” If we’re being completely honest here, we’re actually stoked to see anybody take on the mo’, and they’ve got to make a supersonic man out of someone, right?