Photo: Marco Vittur
There have been rumours and counter-rumours swirling around the Freddie Mercury movie since Sacha Baron Cohen exited the project back in July. His departure, born of creative differences with the surviving Queen members who own the music, has naturally led to frenzied casting speculation. But Daniel Radcliffe, the bookies' recent favourite, is on rumour control, shooting down the idea of playing the '80s rock moustacario.
"There is no truth to it at all," Radcliffe told the Empire Podcast. "It's one of those very, very funny things: it came out of a story in the Daily Star and then you see newspapers like The Guardian using The Star as their source, and it grows and grows [until] it's 'Dan Radcliffe is playing Freddie Mercury!', which I was never going to do."
"Everyone on the internet who I presume is saying I'm totally wrong for that part is correct," he laughed. "I AM completely wrong for that part!"
Radcliffe, on the promotional trail for his Allen Ginsberg biopic Kill Your Darlings, offered an interesting take on the mainstream rumour mill. "If I'd seen a rumour about me playing Iggy Pop, I'd think, 'Hey, I'd have a go at that - that'd be fun!', but Freddie Mercury? No. I don't even know who the director is. They seem to be saying it's Stephen Frears *and *Tom Hooper on the internet."
"This is the kind of thing that happens to me and it happens to Emma (Watson) with multiple 50 Shades Of Grey things. When somebody has column inches to fill, they just sub in one of our names."
For a Radcliffe project that *has *come to pass, keep peepers peeled for Kill Your Darlings. It sees him play Beat poet Ginsberg and it's in UK cinemas from December 6, and the full Empire Podcast interview with Radcliffe will be online around then. Radcliffe also has Horns on the way at some point, following its Toronto premiere, and also has The F Word lined up after that. Next he'll be shooting Frankenstein with James McAvoy.