Blake Lively has signed on to star opposite Sacha Baron Cohen in an untitled biopic about the life of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury. The film, which is set to begin production this April, is rumoured to have Les Miserables and The King’s Speech director Tom Hooper circling the director’s chair.
Lively has reportedly signed on to play Mercury’s girlfriend, Mary Austin, in the film. This will be the first post Gossip Girl role for the actress, which she wrapped last November. Recently, Lively has been building her dramatic acting profile by starring in several heavy films including The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, Ben Affleck’s The Town and Oliver Stone’s Savages.
Personally, I think Lively is a great actress and incredibly charismatic. I enjoy her work a lot and I’m excited to see her breaking away from her Gossip Girl bubble by starting to craft a name for herself in the film world.
As for this upcoming biopic, I think Hooper is a weird choice for a director, yet it could work, but I do like the idea of Cohen playing Mercury and Lively playing Austin. I can see them making a great on screen couple as something tells me that they’ll have a lot of chemistry between them.
Mercury had a very interesting life and bringing his story to the big screen is going to require as much talent as possible. So far, I think the producers of this one are doing well and I can’t wait to see who else signs on in the coming months.
As always, we will bring you more updates on the film as they arise. For now though, tell us, what do you think of Blake Lively starring in the Freddie Mercury biopic? Is she a good choice to play Mary Austin? Would you rather see someone else in the film? Let us know in the comments below.
