Queen bio “casts former EastEnders actor as Roger Taylor”

PanARMENIAN.Net - Former EastEnders actor Ben Hardy has reportedly been cast as Roger Taylor in the long-planned Queen movie, NME reveals.

Mr. Robot star Rami Malek is now attached to play Freddie Mercury after Sacha Baron Cohen pulled out over creative differences with the band. The film has been in the works since around 2010, and Daniel Radcliffe and Ben Whishaw were previously linked to the Mercury role.

Now Hardy – who also appeared as Angel in last year’s X-Men: Apocalypse – is said to have joined the cast too. “Ben caught the eye of ­producers and he has worked with director Bryan Singer on X-Men,” an unnamed source reportedly told The Sun. “After a couple of screen tests, bosses decided he was the perfect man for the job and signed him up. He’s very excited.”

The source added: “But he’s got plenty of work to do before filming starts – he’s even started taking drumming lessons to get up to scratch.”

Brian May said earlier this year that the film could be ready in time for a 2018 release. May also revealed recently that late bandmate Freddie Mercury lost most of his foot while battling AIDS.

Queen are currently touring North America with Adam Lambert. They’ll bring their live show to the UK in November for a run of arena concerts leading up to Christmas.