Ben Whishaw in a still from the movie Skyfall
Los Angeles:
Actor Ben Whishaw is the front runner to play Queen's rocker Freddie Mercury in an upcoming biopic.
Lead vocalist of British rock band Queen, Roger Taylor, spilled the beans in a radio interview with Chris Evans and Alex Jones. He initially only gave the initial "BW" when the topic came up.
Jones pressed further, asking if it was the Skyfall actor, to which the drummer confirmed, "Well, we hope so."
The late singer was originally set to be played by Sacha Baron Cohen, but he dropped out of the movie due to creative differences.
Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe and Captain America: The First Avenger thesp Dominic Cooper were previously linked to replace the Borat actor, but the Kill Your Darlings star was quick to deny his involvement in the project.
Cohen was said to be planning to offer a gritty R-rated look at the life of the iconic rocker in the upcoming movie, but the band's remaining members who serve as producers allegedly wanted it to be a PG one.
Taylor later explained their issues with the funnyman, "We felt Sacha probably wasn't right in the end. We didn't want it to be a joke. We want people to be moved."
Whishaw, 33, is best known for his role as computer genius Q in the latest James Bond film, Skyfall. He was last seen in Cloud Atlas and will next appear in Lilting, The Zero Theorem and Days and Nights among others.
Lead vocalist of British rock band Queen, Roger Taylor, spilled the beans in a radio interview with Chris Evans and Alex Jones. He initially only gave the initial "BW" when the topic came up.
Jones pressed further, asking if it was the Skyfall actor, to which the drummer confirmed, "Well, we hope so."
The late singer was originally set to be played by Sacha Baron Cohen, but he dropped out of the movie due to creative differences.
Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe and Captain America: The First Avenger thesp Dominic Cooper were previously linked to replace the Borat actor, but the Kill Your Darlings star was quick to deny his involvement in the project.
Cohen was said to be planning to offer a gritty R-rated look at the life of the iconic rocker in the upcoming movie, but the band's remaining members who serve as producers allegedly wanted it to be a PG one.
Taylor later explained their issues with the funnyman, "We felt Sacha probably wasn't right in the end. We didn't want it to be a joke. We want people to be moved."
Whishaw, 33, is best known for his role as computer genius Q in the latest James Bond film, Skyfall. He was last seen in Cloud Atlas and will next appear in Lilting, The Zero Theorem and Days and Nights among others.
