It is never easy to know when a certain movie role is going to lead to something massive, and the lucky few that are able to land one of these coveted gigs wind up getting far more than they bargained for. Unless a role is in a huge franchise like James Bond, Harry Potter, or the MCU, roles can be a toss up, and many simply come and go without making much noise.
Back in 2018, the film Bohemian Rhapsody was released into theaters, eventually becoming a global sensation. In the early stages of the project, Sacha Baron Cohen was tabbed to play Freddie Mercury, but things wound up falling through.
Let’s see what happened with Cohen and his involvement in the film.
He Was Originally Signed On To Play Freddie Mercury
To really get the full picture here, we need to head back a full decade and see how things took shape for the film. During that time, the project was in the early stages of development, and things would change quite a bit.
It was reported back in 2010 that Cohen had signed on to play the role of Freddie Mercury in the project. As stated in the article, Cohen had flashed some of his vocal prowess on the big screen in the film Sweeney Todd, but there was simply no way of knowing if he could take on the iconic chops of Freddie Mercury.
Keep in mind that this announcement took place 8 full years before the film even hit theaters, meaning that there was a long road ahead for everyone involved. Cohen is a creative genius in his own right, and he was no doubt interested in having plenty of say for the film’s direction.
As we will come to see, Cohen’s vision for the film didn’t match the band’s, and eventually, changes needed to be made if the film was going to have any chance of getting off the ground and hitting theaters.
His Vision For The Film Didn’t Match Everyone Else’s
Collaboration is never an easy thing, especially when there are millions of dollars and a major legacy on the line. Queen and Sacha Baron Cohen would eventually find themselves at odds about the way the film should go.
Cohen was interested in focusing more so on Mercury, while the band, at that time, wanted to focus on how the band carried on in the second half of the film.
Per The Guardian, Cohen would tell Howard Stern, “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.’ 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.’”
This was a massive dividing factor in how things would eventually play out for the film and for Cohen’s involvement.
Queen drummer Roger Taylor would touch on this with the Associated Press, saying, “There was a lot of talk about Sacha and stuff. It was never really on. I don’t think he took it seriously enough — didn’t take Freddie seriously enough.”
Clearly, things were not going to work out, and with comments like this, it is pretty easy to see why this movie took so long to be made. The band needed to find someone to play Freddie Mercury, and the right man soon came forward.
Rami Malik Eventually Got The Gig
It may seem weird now, but there was once a point when Rami Malek wasn’t even attached to the Bohemian Rhapsody project. Once he got the gig as Freddie Mercury, there was simply no looking back for the actor
Bohemian Rhapsody was released into theaters and quickly took over the globe. Box Office Mojo shows that the movie was able to gross an astounding $903 million worldwide, which is far more than anyone could have anticipated.
As for Rami Malek, his portrayal of the icon was stellar, and he netted praise from every person that watched the movie. According to IMDb, Malek would take home the Academy Award for Best Actor, effectively catapulting his career into an entirely new era. He is slated to appear in the next Bond film, and people are going to be focusing on his performance in the movie.
Sacha Baron Cohen very well could have been a great Freddie Mercury, but conflict with the band about the film’s direction stopped that from ever happening.