Director David Fincher says that Sacha Baron Cohen looked spectacular in test photos as Freddie Mercury for their abandoned biographical movie. Before Bohemian Rhapsody catapulted Rami Malek to an Oscar win and made hundreds of millions of dollars worldwide, Cohen was long attached to a Freddie Mercury movie. A passion project for the British comic actor, several directors were attached to the film stuck in development hell, including Fincher, who most recently helmed his 30-year-long passion project, Mank for Netflix.

Cohen, famous for his no-holds-barred approach to any character he plays, including comedy icons like Ali G and Borat, wanted his Mercury movie to be a hard R-rated exploration of the darker side of Mercury's life, and the decision which ultimately led to his death from HIV/Aids. He left the Freddie Mercury biopic after it became clear that the surviving members of Mercury's band, Queen, who own the rights to his story, wouldn't sign off on that. What resulted was Bohemian Rhapsody, a commercially successful but ultimately sanitized tale of a critical time in Queen's history.

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Now, Fincher revealed to fellow director Aaron Sorkin, who cast Cohen in his own Netflix movie The Trial of the Chicago 7, that Cohen looked "spectacular" as Mercury in the test shots done for the abandoned project. The pair talked on The Director's Cut podcast (via IndieWire), and Fincher asked Sorkin if he had seen the photos, with the latter saying he hadn't. Fincher then says Sorkin "has to" see them, as he believes they are so good. You can see his full quote from the podcast below:

Dude, you have to see…these photos are spectacular.

Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury

Fincher's revelation is unsurprising, given that Cohen bears a resemblance to the iconic rock star. Despite being much taller, Cohen has a similar face to Mercury and has proven with Borat that he can pull off the big 1980s mustache favored by Mercury throughout the latter part of his career. Whether the similarity in looks would have translated into a strong performance as Mercury is another subject entirely. Still, there's little doubt Cohen, known for transforming his face to go undercover for his roles, would have looked the part.

Arguably Cohen would have looked better than Malek, who was great in the role, but a little smaller than Mercury and lacked the large stage presence that Mercury naturally brought to his performances. Fincher's comment is also a reminder of what could have been with Bohemian Rhapsody if the surviving members of Queen had been willing to go the R-rated route. With a prestige drama director like Fincher attached, directing a committed performer like Cohen, the movie would have been an affecting and dark one, a strong contrast to the final product.

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Source: The Director's Cut podcast (via IndieWire)