Game of Thrones star Aidan Gillen has joined the cast of Queens long-gestating biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody, Vanity Fair reports. The actor will portray former Queen manager John Reid, while Tom Hollander plays longtime and current Queen manager Jim Beach. Gillen and Hollander join the previously announced cast Mr. Robots Rami Malek (singer Freddie Mercury), Gwilym Lee (guitarist Brian May), Ben Hardy (drummer Roger Taylor) and Joseph Mazello (bassist John Deacon) for the film, which is officially slated to open on December 25th, 2018.
Like with his GoT villainous role as Petyr Littlefinger Baelish, who met a surprising demise during the Season Seven finale, Gillens Reid character wont escape unscathed in Bohemian Rhapsody. The manager was apparently fired because he seemed to put too much emphasis on Mercury while neglecting the other members. Reid, who also managed Elton John, split with the group in 1978. Meanwhile, Beach continues to serve as Queens manager.
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Beach is also a co-producer for the Bryan Singer-directed film, which has been a dozen years in the making and has seen a revolving door of actors and directors tied to the project over that time. In July, Queen officially announced they were beginning film pre-production and reconfirmed that Singer would helm the film, while Malek would portray Mercury.
We have our star. We have Rami Malek as our Freddie, who I think will be incredible. He has a great presence, and hes utterly dedicated to the project, which is wonderful. Weve spent a little time with him. Hes completely living and breathing Freddie already, which is just wonderful to see, May told Rolling Stone. May and Taylor both serve as executive producers on the film.
So we sort of sit there like the grandparents of the project in a sense, May continued. And well be taking care of the music, supervising the way its done, which is another great project. But were not really making the film. Weve stayed with it for the last 12 years to shepherd it to the right place where we feel it would do Freddie justice. We only get one shot at this, and thats it.
While there is not yet an official trailer for Bohemian Rhapsody, earlier this month fans captured footage of Malek recreating Queens legendary Live Aid performance for the biopic.