Sacha Baron Cohen’s career is marked by his controversial and subversive portrayal of fictional characters. His satirical character skits including Ali G, Borat, Brüno Gehard, and Admiral General Aladeen have been recognized as portraying stereotypical socio-political ideologies. This has landed him in several controversies, yet he still remains a popular actor and comedian in Hollywood.
He is also a big fan of Freddie Mercury, the lead vocalist of the British band Queen. There have been many attempts in Hollywood to make a biopic based on the late musician. Interestingly, Cohen was supposed to play Mercury in an early attempt at a film that shuffled directors between David Fincher and Tom Hopper. Although Actor Rami Malek would ultimately play the role in Bohemian Rhapsody directed by Bryan Singer, the thought of Cohen portraying the role was rejected by one of Queen’s band members.
Roger Taylor Slammed the Idea of Sacha Baron Cohen as Freddie Mercury
The idea of Sacha Baron Cohen playing Freddie Mercury is an interesting one because their personalities are wildly different. Cohen is a satirical and larger-than-life comedian while Mercury is a beloved and dedicated lead vocalist of Queen. The pairing of the two is odd yet intriguing for something like a cinematic biopic. But the drummer of the band Roger Taylor seems to think that casting Cohen would be a bad decision as he does not consider him a good dramatic actor. He had this to say about Cohen (via Metro)
“I think he would have been utter s**t. Sacha is pushy, if nothing else. He’s also six inches too tall. But I watched his last five films and came to the conclusion he’s not a very good actor. ‘I might be wrong there, ha! I thought he was an utterly brilliant subversive comedian, that’s what he’s great at.”
Taylor’s disapproval of Cohen as Mercury is understandable since he is mostly subjected to comedic roles and satirical characters. But Cohen has recently made a transition towards serious dramatic roles in The Trial of the Chicago 7 and the Netflix series The Spy where he received acclaim for his performance. It seems fans will never get to know how Cohen’s version of Mercury would have turned out.
Brian May Was Convinced With Rami Malek on The First Meeting Itself
Rami Malek ultimately got the opportunity to play Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody. The lead guitarist of Queen Brian May was impressed by Malek’s passion and enthusiasm for the role. He started to visualize his friend in Malek’s mannerisms and voice and thus was convinced of his casting for the film. He told Deadline,
“My stereo picture from the QUEEN in 3-D book shows us in that very first meeting [photo at right]. It actually says it all! After a few minutes with him in Roger’s flat, everything about Rami had clicked with us. His reading of Freddie’s personality was spot on. His instinctive “inhabiting” of Freddie’s physical presence was already uncanny. We watched his demo screen tests — which were great — but really it was the feeling in the room that here was the perfect man to don Freddie like an overcoat! Of course, Rami had already mastered Freddie’s unique accent and tone of voice. But his characterization went much further than that”
Malek’s hard work and dedication in trying to paint an authentic and respectful representation of the iconic musician would be widely praised by critics and audiences. The film and Malek received many accolades and awards including Best Actor for Malek at many prestigious award events such as the Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild, BAFTAs, and the Oscars.
