Ben Hardy has been cast as Roger Taylor in an upcoming Freddie Mercury biopic.

Ben Hardy

Ben Hardy

The 26-year-old actor - who starred in BBC soap 'EastEnders' before making his film debut as Archangel in 'X-Men: Apocalypse' - is reportedly set to play the iconic band's drummer in the new film called 'Bohemian Rhapsody'.

A source told The Sun 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."

'Bohemian Rhapsody' will chart Queen's ­story up to their appearance at the Live Aid concert in 1985.

Movie bosses are still busily trying to cast two more actors for the roles of Brian May and John Deacon, with Rami Malek set to play Freddie Mercury.

It's said that the movie-makers are keen to recruit up-and coming acting talents for the vacant roles.

Meanwhile, Ben previously admitted that the jump from 'EastEnders' to Hollywood wasn't as great as he imagined it would be.

Speaking in 2015, he said: "LA is big, although Hollywood's not as glamorous as I thought, it's kind of grungy.

"It's not too much of a leap from 'EastEnders' in that sense."