The actor who won an Emmy for his performance as neurotic hacker Elliot Alderson in Mr Robot will play the Queen frontman in Bohemian Rhapsody
Rami Malek, the star of Mr Robot, is the latest actor who has signed on to play Freddie Mercury in the troubled biopic Bohemian Rhapsody.
The actor who won an Emmy for his performance as neurotic hacker Elliot Alderson in Mr Robot will play the Queen frontman, with X-Men: Apocalypse director Bryan Singer in talks to direct.
Bohemian Rhapsody has been in production for eight years, with Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor on board as music producers. Earlier this year disagreements about the direction the film should take caused Sacha Baron Cohen who was originally cast as Mercury to walk away from the project.
Speaking to US radio host Howard Stern in March, Baron Cohen said he disagreed with May and Taylor over how much of the film should be dedicated to Mercury.
The comedian and actor said: A member of the band I wont say who said: You know, this is such a great movie because its 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.
I said: Listen, not one person is going to see a movie where the lead character dies from Aids and then you see how the band carries on.
May responded by saying that Baron Cohen had acted like an arse. We had some nice times with Sacha kicking around ideas, he told the Mail on Sundays Event magazine. But he went off and told untruths about what happened.
May had hoped Ben Whishaw, who he called a real actor, would take over the lead role of the film, which has a script from The Theory Of Everything writer Anthony McCarten.
Earlier this year Malek won <a href=”https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/sep/18/emmys-2016-full-list-of-winners-as-they-happen” data-link-name=”in” body link” class=”u-underline”>best lead actor in drama at the Emmys, beating the likes of Kevin Spacey (House of Cards) and Matthew Rhys (The Americans) for a win that many saw as a surprise. The film is scheduled to begin shooting early in 2017.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/nov/04/rami-malek-mr-robot-freddie-mercury-queen-biopic