Says Cohen's claims against the content of the film are unfounded.
Brian May is painfully truthful about his opinion of Sacha Baron Cohen after the comedian pulled out of the Freddie Mercury biopic over disagreements about the content of the movie. When Cohen suggested that producers wanted something that was essentially a watered down reality, May wasn't happy.
Sacha Baron Cohen branded an a***
'Grimsby' star Sacha Baron Cohen could well have made the perfect Freddie Mercury in the Queen biopic that's currently in the works. However, he decided to walk away from the project once he realised that it wouldn't be as candid as he'd have liked. He opened up about the conflict on The Howard Stern Show, claiming that May was 'not a great movie producer' and only interested to 'protect their legacy as a band'.
However, this was not what May believed happened with the film. 'Sacha became an a***', he told the Mail on Sunday. 'We had some nice times with Sacha kicking around ideas but he went off and told untruths about what happened. Why would he go away and say that we didn't want to make a gritty film? Are we the kind of people who have ever ducked from the truth? I don't think so.'
More: Sacha Baron Cohen opens up about leaving Freddie Mercury biopic
According to him, Cohen didn't as much walk away from the role as he was fired from it. 'We decided he wasn't right for the role, which will become apparent if you watch what he's done recently. It's obvious it wasn't going to work, him playing Freddie. It wouldn't suspend your disbelief.'
The current favourite to play the Queen lead singer is Ben Whishaw, who has May's full support. 'We're hoping Ben Whishaw will do it', he said. 'He's fabulous - a real actor.' Of course, we'll have to wait until the movie to find out if Cohen really was making excuses to cover his departure from the project; if it does appear to skirt over Mercury's struggle with AIDS and untimely death, his complicated romantic relationships and drug-taking, then we'll know exactly why Cohen 'became an a***'.
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