Sacha Baron Cohen is Freddie Mercury

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http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2010/09/17/sacha-baron-cohen-to-play-freddie-mercury/
Talk about perfect casting: Outrageous British comic Sacha Baron Cohen will play outrageous Brit rocker Freddie Mercury in a biopic about the Queen frontman set to film next year, reports Deadline.com.

Mercury, known for his soaring vocals and flamboyant stage presence, helped make Queen one of the biggest bands of the '70s and '80s with hits like "Bohemian Rhapsody," "We Are the Champions" and "We Will Rock You." He died from AIDS-related complications at age 45 in 1991.

Reports that Cohen, 38, would play the singer first surfaced in 2007, though the actor's rep shot down the rumors at the time. GK Films, which is heading up the project, now confirms that the "Borat" and "Bruno" star is on board. Screenwriter Peter Morgan, who previously wrote scripts for "The Queen" and "The Last King of Scotland," is ready to take on music royalty for the film.


GK Films' Graham King said in a statement, “Queen is one of the greatest rock bands of all time, and a music brand all unto itself. Freddie Mercury was an awe-inspiring performer, so with Sacha in the starring role coupled with Peter’s screenplay and the support of Queen, we have the perfect combination to tell the real story behind their success.”

Music rights for the band's songs have already been acquired, and Deadline reports that it's not yet known whether Cohen will do his own singing or whether Mercury's vocals will be used.

Cohen, however, did prove he could belt out a tune with the best of them in "Sweeney Todd," the 2007 musical starring Johnny Depp, who, coincidentally, was also once rumored to be playing Mercury on screen.
So is this a mindbogglingly terrible idea, or a surprisingly brilliant one? Cohen is a fine comedic actor, but has he ever shown the dramatic talent needed for a role like this? Is a Queen biopic really a good idea anyway? Discuss.
 
Travesty. No matter how well it is made otherwise, it will suck just because he was cast in the role.
 
I'm sure if he fake being funny, he can fake singing. But if the fake singing is as painful to watch as the fake being funny, then fleeing in panic is called for. :run:
 
Who's gonna teach him how to sing?

I heard he was a pretty good singer in Sweeney Todd. Apparently he sang the entire score of Fiddler on the Roof for his audition. Obviously, what's good enough for Tim Burton and what's good enough to portray Freddie Mercury are two different things, so it'll be interesting to see how much training he receives.
 
I agree unilaterally with Cutlass, perhaps the first time ever.
 
I think it's a good move.

I'm pretty convinced that he can act, and he does look a lot like FM.
 
Travesty. No matter how well it is made otherwise, it will suck just because he was cast in the role.

Don't confuse Sacha baron Cohen with Bruno or Borat. I'm not really sure what you're afraid of, Sacha Baron Cohen is a perfect pick for this role
 
So is this a mindbogglingly terrible idea, or a surprisingly brilliant one? Cohen is a fine comedic actor, but has he ever shown the dramatic talent needed for a role like this? Is a Queen biopic really a good idea anyway? Discuss.

I think it could end up brilliant.
 
Indeed. Seeing as Freddie was a perfect little comedian since a very young age and it´d be silly to use anything but playback for the music, I don´t see any problem here.
 
Indeed. Seeing as Freddie was a perfect little comedian since a very young age and it´d be silly to use anything but playback for the music, I don´t see any problem here.

I don't know about that last part. Given how well Joaquin Phoenix, Jamie Foxx, Cate Blanchett, etc. did with original recordings that captured the spirits of the artists they portrayed, playback would seem like a bit of a copout.
 
Well most people would consider Freddie to be British, even though he was not born their and had a foreign name, he lived there long enough to be considered British.
He was also a legal British citizen by naturalisation, and a British subject by birth, so he ticks pretty much every box going. "British" is a civic nationality, after all, one of subscription; it's quite possible for a first-generation immigrant to consider themselves and to be considered British.

After all, I have a foreign name, and nobody thinks twice about it, and not just because Ireland is a tad closer to Britain than India is.
 
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