Sacha Baron Cohen was too recognisable to play Freddie Mercury in a forthcoming biopic of the flamboyant singer, according to Queen's Brian May.

Mercury's former bandmate said the presence of the Borat star would have been distracting for audiences. He told the Daily Mirror: "It seemed like a good idea in the beginning but the truth is, he's too recognisable. He's very much a style and a character. I think that he would have been very distracting. That's the conclusion we came to."

Guitarist May, who is producing the biopic with his fellow bandmates, is the second member of Queen to question Baron Cohen's credentials. Drummer Roger Taylor said last month that the comic actor was dismissed because the band did not want the film to be "a joke".

However, both men were speaking in the wake of suggestions on Hollywood trade websites that the erstwhile Ali G star walked away because Queen wanted a sanitised take on Mercury's life. Baron Cohen, who starred in Les Miserables and Hugo and had recruited the Oscar-winning screenwriter Peter Morgan to work on the script, reportedly wanted a racy "warts-and-all" approach.

Captain America's Dominic Cooper was recently linked to the long-gestating biopic. Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe moved quickly last month to scotch a tabloid report that suggested he was considering the role.