Sacha Baron Cohen quit Freddie Mercury biopic over ‘artistic difference’ with Queen band member

Sacha Baron Cohen quit the Freddie Mercury biopic because of ‘artistic differences.’

The British actor and comedian, who was set to play the late musician, has admitted that he didn’t see eye-to-eye with a member of Queen.

Speaking to Howard Stern on his SiriusXF show, he said: “There are amazing stories about Freddie Mercury.

“The guy was wild. I mean he was living an extreme lifestyle. There are stories of little people with plates with cocaine on their heads walking around a party."

The Grimsby star went on to say that members of Queen wanted a slightly more watered-down version to preserve the bands ‘legacy.’

“I understand it, they are a band. They want to protect their legacy as a band. They want it to be about Queen, and I fully understand that.

“[After] my first meeting, I should never have carried on because a member of the band - I won't say who - said, ''This is such a great movie, because such an amazing thing happens in the middle of the movie.''

“I go, '’What happens in the middle of the movie?’' He goes, '’You know, Freddie dies.’

“I go, ‘So you mean it's a bit like Pulp Fiction, where the end is the middle and the middle is the end? Oh right, that's a wild movie, that's interesting I never thought about that!' He goes, 'No, no normal movie.'”

Cohen continued to work on the film for six years before backing out due to what he describes as ‘artistic differences.’

At the time, Brian May said that the band “felt that [Cohen's] presence in the movie would be very distracting… The man who plays Freddie, you have to really believe is Freddie. And we didn’t think that could really happen with Sacha.”