Former EastEnders actor Ben Hardy has reportedly been signed up to play Queen drummer Roger Taylor in a forthcoming biopic about the rock band.
He is tipped to star alongside the film’s leading man, Mr Robot actor Rami Malek, who will play the late Freddie Mercury.
According to The Sun, Hardy – who played Peter Beale in the soap from 2013 until 2015 and appeared in nearly 200 episodes – caught the eye of Hollywood producers.
Hardy has already got his foot in the door as he played the role of Angel/Warren Worthington III in last year’s X-Men: Apocalypse film directed by Bryan Singer, who is also directing the Queen production, entitled Bohemian Rhapsody.
A source told the newspaper: “Ben caught the eye of producers and he has worked with director Bryan Singer on X-Men.
“After a couple of screen tests, bosses decided he was the perfect man for the job and signed him up. He’s very excited.
“But he’s got plenty of work to do before filming starts — he’s even started taking drumming lessons to get up to scratch.”
The Queen biopic has been years in the making and has been hit with several setbacks, including Sacha Baron Cohen pulling out of playing Mercury in 2013 due to creative differences.
In 2010, Queen guitarist Brian May had confirmed that the Borat actor would be playing the leading role, but in 2016 Baron Cohen confirmed that he stepped away from the project due to a disagreement over the storyline with an unnamed member of the band.
In November last year, it was widely reported that Ramek would take on the role of the lead singer, and filming is set to begin this year.
