September 16, 2010

Who will play Freddie Mercury in the movie about the great rock star?

Sacha Baron Cohen. Interesting!

22 comments:

HKatz said...

Well, as long as he doesn't start singing: "Kazakhstan greatest country in the world. All other countries are run by little girls..."

He can do flamboyant I bet, but it remains to be seen if he can hit other notes. I'd be interested to see what the movie does with the album Innuendo. Mercury was close to death then but still singing so powerfully, as much as his body was full of pain and exhaustion; could Baron Cohen act well in such scenes? Who knows.

Eric said...

There is a bit of a physical resemblance. And comedians tend to act well.

joeschmo1of3 said...

He's too tall. Hopefully some movie magic will make the band mates tower over him.

Ann Althouse said...

Mercury was 5'9".

Did you know his religion was Zoroastrianism? (His parents' religion.)

Ann Althouse said...

Sacha Baron Cohen is 6'3".

chickelit said...

Many years ago (1992) my wife to be and I went to Franconia with some friends. We all got quite hammered one night and the next morning went in search of the perfect Schweinhachsen (a regional specialty). We found the perfect rustic restaurant, the name of which escapes me and which I failed to note. Anyways, the walls inside were covered with portrait photographs of German soldiers from the First World War. We all sniggered and couldn't stop laughing (in our hungover stupor) because looking down on us, all dressed in Feldgrau and complete with a spiked helmet, was the spitting image of Freddie Mercury.

Revenant said...

Cohen seems like a good pick.

TWM said...

Actually Cohen seems like a good fit for the role. We will see.

Anonymous said...

Freddi Mercury was a great rock star?

bagoh20 said...

The culture would be noticeably different had AIDS never arrived. So sudden, so permanent.

Daniel Fielding said...

Ann- Freddy's given name was Farouk Balsara. Born in Zanzibar to an Indian Zoroastrian (Parsi) family, who then moved to England.
One of Freddy's cousins, Dadi, is a friend of mine, who lives in Ann Arbor, on the Old West Side neighborhood of Ann Arbor.

froggyprager said...

That should be good, I heard Cohen recently say he did not think he could ever do a funny character in the real world again because he is too well recognized.

I have had a lot of Queen on the brain lately because I listened to a great Fresh Air interview with Brian May (really interesting) and another NPR story about a documentary about Freddie.

A.W. said...

Cohen looks pretty decently like him, but can he act in a dramatic sense?

Personally i am not thrilled to see another actor try the serious route. At best you get, bleh, another serious actor. at worst, its a disaster. like i am sorry, but i would have been the happiest guy on the planet if jim carrey hadn't decided to go "serious." yeah give me 15 more movies as funny as dumb and dumber, and liar, liar. it beats the crap out of a "the number 23" any day of the week.

Phil 314 said...

Can he sing?

Rialby said...

bagh20 - The culture would be noticeably different had AIDS never arrived. So sudden, so permanent.


So true. I was talking to a former colleague of mine who was once a professional musician in travelling Broadway shows in the 70s. I said something like, oh that must have been some party. He responded wistfully, "Yes, it was. Unfortunately, many of the young men on those shows were gone by the 80s." Crazy sad when you think about how many of those lives were snuffed out.

Joseph said...

Wow. I can totally totally see that working because of the twin similarities in physical appearance and outrageous personality.

Joseph said...

Height is among the easiest things to manipulate in film so that should be no problem.

Trooper York said...

Obviously they need to choose Prince Poppycock!

blake said...

Cohen can obviously get into character.

And he can grow the moustache, so he's got that goin' for him, which is nice.

Phil 314 said...

Trooper;
Thanks for the Poppycock link but....

he doesn't have the vocal chops of Freddie.


And he's no dancer (not that Freddie was)

Phil 314 said...

Freddie Mercury in all of his "over the top" glory

Snark said...

To HKatz: The movie will never get to Innuendo. It's going to cover the formation of the band through their iconic Live Aid performance in 1985. He wasn't even ill at that point. Strange, but true.