Sacha Baron Cohen reveals how weird plot point made him leave Freddie Mercury biopic

'They wanted to protect their legacy as a band'

(Rex Features )

Back in 2010, it was announced Sacha Baron Cohen would take on the lead role in a biopic about the late Freddie Mercury.

'Sacha Baron Cohen? The guy best known for playing Ali G, Borat, Brüno and other broadly drawn characters? To play the ex-Queen front man?' everyone initially thought, though many came round to the idea.

It was too late however, in 2013, Brian May - the band’s guitarist - announced that the comedian had left the project “on good terms”, adding that his “presence in the movie would be very distracting”.

Almost three years later, Cohen has finally spoken out about the project, revealing exactly why he left on the Howard Stern show: "They wanted to protect their legacy as a band.

“A member of the band—I won't say who—said, ‘You know, this is such a great movie because it's got such an amazing thing that happens in the middle of the movie.’

"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 a movie where the lead character dies from AIDS and then you carry on to see how the band carries on.’”

He went on to say that May was an “amazing musician” but “not a great movie producer”, adding that Freddy Mercury’s story was “amazing”, "The guy was wild. There are stories of little people with plates of cocaine on their heads walking around a party."

Cohen has been promoting his film Grimsby, recently returning to his character Ali G at the Oscars.