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Aidan Gillen, Tom Hollander Join Queen Biopic ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’

‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ adds two new cast members.
By  · Published on September 27th, 2017

The Show Must Go On. ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ adds two new cast members.

Add two more for the bicycle race. The official Queen Twitter account announced that actors Aidan Gillen and Tom Hollander will be joining the cast of Bohemian Rhapsody. The biopic, detailing the life of Freddie Mercury and that of the band Queen has been in production for some time now. It has taken a few false starts to get going, but it is currently scheduled for December 25th, 2018.

Aiden Gillen has a appeared in plenty of films including Sing Street and the upcoming Maze Runner: The Death Cure, but fans will most likely recognize the actor from his performance on Game of Thrones as Littlefinger. He will be taking the role of Queen’s manager, John Reid, who was with the band from 1975-1978. Tom Hollander, on the other hand, is probably known for his role in The Night Manager and Cutler Beckett in Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man’s Chest and At Worlds End. Hollander will be playing Jim Beach, Queen’s manager since 1978.

The reason Bohemian Rhapsody took so long to get off the ground was the difficulty in casting Freddie Mercury. Another actor would bite the dust and then another one would sign on. It wasn’t purely casting issues, but also had something to do with the direction Queen wanted the biopic to take. Queen doesn’t want any mention of the Aids epidemic in the biopic. Meaning whatever vision that will end up being on the screen will be a watered down version of Mercury’s life.

Photo: Nick Delaney/Fox

Actor Rami Malek was on board with Queen’s vision and ended up landed the coveted role of Freddie Mercury. Malek, best known for his role on Mr. Robot, certainly looks the part as seen in the still above. Whether or not he can nail what made Mercury special is another thing entirely. One of the pivotal moments in the biopic, the famous Queen Live Aid concert, has appeared in different forms on the internet and the videos seem to capture the essence of that show. Gillen and Hollander have joined this production that is under pressure to get the story right.

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