Sacha Baron Cohen reveals how weird plot point made him leave Freddie Mercury biopic
'They wanted to protect their legacy as a band'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Back in 2010, it was announced Sacha Baron Cohen would take on the lead role in a biopic about the late Freddie Mercury.
'Sacha Baron Cohen? The guy best known for playing Ali G, Borat, Brüno and other broadly drawn characters? To play the ex-Queen front man?' everyone initially thought, though many came round to the idea.
It was too late however, in 2013, Brian May - the band’s guitarist - announced that the comedian had left the project “on good terms”, adding that his “presence in the movie would be very distracting”.
Almost three years later, Cohen has finally spoken out about the project, revealing exactly why he left on the Howard Stern show: "They wanted to protect their legacy as a band.
“A member of the band—I won't say who—said, ‘You know, this is such a great movie because it's got such an amazing thing that happens in the middle of the movie.’
"And I go, ‘What happens in the middle of the movie?’ 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.’ I said, ‘Listen, not one person is going to a movie where the lead character dies from AIDS and then you carry on to see how the band carries on.’”
He went on to say that May was an “amazing musician” but “not a great movie producer”, adding that Freddy Mercury’s story was “amazing”, "The guy was wild. There are stories of little people with plates of cocaine on their heads walking around a party."
Cohen has been promoting his film Grimsby, recently returning to his character Ali G at the Oscars.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments