Why Wasn’t Sacha Baron Cohen In Character On Letterman?

@jbk: It's always nice to see someone else that appreciates Martin Freeman. Thanks for letting me know he is in the Ali G movie - I will have to watch it now.

@KentuckyBabe:

loved this post

JudyPaceFace

I see it as a gesture of respect to Dave. The days when I was a teen and Letterman was edgy are long gone; Dave mainstreamed the oddball comedy tricks years ago that Cohen is making a career out of now, so "doing" Bruno on Letterman is simply recursive.

PhyrePhox

@jbk: I also really like the Ali G movie, which stars the eminent British actors Michael Gambon (Dumbledore for you Harry Potterites), and Charles Dance, who are deliciously funny in their roles. I just saw it for the 6th or 7th time a few days ago, and it holds up quite well. Highly recommended.

I liked the Bruno character on the HBO Ali G Show, but it isn't as original (or funny) as Ali G or Borat, IMHO. My favorite Bruno segment is the one where he interviews the young guys in a wrestling team on ?Daytona Beach?, and then reveals that he is gay. I thought that he was going to be killed by them - literally.

I'll go to see Bruno anyway, as I'm a huge SBC fan.

AuntieFreeze

@Astroblack:

Excellent. Here's a "Medela" (Maydeleh) backpack breast pump for only $70.00. It was $279.00 at target!

[beirut.craigslist.org]

@KentuckyBabe: And Sweeney Todd, unfortunately.

@Ken Green: ???

July 10, sir. Friday. Perhaps the endless publicity confused you into thinking this was a product you could already buy, instead properly whipping up your anticipation for a product that you can very soon buy.

[movies.yahoo.com]

By the way, the Ali G movie is pretty funny, and co-stars the great Martin Freeman from "The Office" (BBC version). It shows up on one of the movie channels once in a while and is worth checking out. (And Borat even makes a very brief appearance.)

The Ali G TV show, the original BBC (or was it a Channel 4?) program, was where he introduced Borat and Bruno. I think the series runs on HBO once in a while.

jbk

@KentuckyBabe: He was in Talladega Nights.

SaraRueful

"Bruno is funny because he's a weird foreigner but he's also, you know, gay and that's just so tetchy these days, best to leave it alone."

This seems like a pretty weak theory to me. Nothing about the Bruno movie or the marketing of it leads me to believe that they are tetchy about the gay thing. Except perhaps for the wise decision to cut the scene that seemed to poke fun at a horribly crippled victim of gay bashing.

Perhaps he just felt that the Bruno character had run its course PR-wise and that it was time to shed the mask for a real conversation with the best late night interviewer in the world.

With the internet the way it is, everyone will have seen his appearance on Conan by now, so it would be old hat. Back in the day it'd be understandable to do the same shtick on each talk show since each audience would generally not have seen it before, but not anymore.

rhys1882

@xhack: Good points all around. Maybe SBC watched his appearance on The Tonight Show and realized he wasn't funny at all. Learning from your own mistake is commendable.

Paul.B.Dodd

Maybe because movie's already out, everyone who's going to see it pretty much has and he's already promoted the hell out of it. More Bruno on TV might turn some people off.

Ken Green

Maybe it's because the Bruno character is so f-ing boring and forced that everyone is already sick of it... and the movie isn't even out yet.

@TedSez: I never get tired of that schtick!

Carol Gardens

@BookishLookish: My thoughts exactly: maybe the blond wig was getting a touch-up?

ginger rant

Bruno is no more outrageous than Joaquin Phoenix's out of character (?!) appearance. Dave: "Well, Joaquin, I'm sorry you couldn't be here tonight."

lowest99

Agreed, it's a smart move. In a way it lets Middle America into his mindset a bit more so they'll be a little more in on the Bruno joke. And for really stupid people, this reminds them that, no, Bruno is not a real person, it's a satire. I'm guessing maybe 3 or 4% of the film's eventual audience does need that reminder, sadly.

I wish he'd do more out of charicter. He's so beautiful and interesting.

It'd be nice to see him in a traditional movie role but I am curious what he will be coming up with next.

@snugbug: Ilsa is so great. lol great autograph! and sound advice at that!

Actually, Sacha: [beirut.craigslist.org]

Astroblack

@secretagentman: No, no. Sadly. Or: happily? Just a regular journo prole at the time. But let's get back to Sacha, this is about him, not about moi.

snugbug

He probably just got lazy about waxing, but frankly he's pretty awesome out of character.

DahlELama

@BookishLookish: *off*

@snugbug: You belong to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association?

secretagentman

I think this was smart. I'm bored of the Bruno character and I haven't even seen the movie yet. It's much more interesting to see him as himself at this point.

Maybe he's busy with his next role as roving Russian interpreter?

johnsakalauskas

Bruno is hard to pull of without the blond hair, is all.

SBC, sigh--is there nothing you cannot do?

When he was doing the press tour for Borat's movie, he did all the shows in character except one. I THINK it was Conan's show that time around but I don't remember for sure. Maybe he just gets tired of it after a while and needs a bit of a break.

TriedandTrue

@TedSez: ... it would have seemed like...

I don't think Letterman would have minded having Cohen in character if he had been first. (He's grimaced through a lot more outrageous stuff during Howard Stern's appearances.) But since Bruno had already stuck his rear in another talk-show host's face, it would have already like tired old schtick.

He's been on Letterman before out of character.
I do think Letterman, or any host, would prefer him to be out of character.

@dystopika: I had the same feeling about the movie after the Conan appearance: "meh."

Maybe keeping in character worked better for Borat as it was his first big, big exposure and everyone perked up and said "who is this guy? he's nuts." But now everyone knows his act, so now it's stale.

Plus, he seemed to just come off as a one-note gay stereotype on Conan.

xhack

@snugbug: That's hilarious.

nonpareil

Ha! That was slippage on Sacha's part..

True story: At LA awards event hosted by my at-the-time place of employ, where Cohen's fiance Isla Fischer was being awardized, he showed up in support. Was in his normal getup, and extremely discreet, and retreated to a dimly lit corner of the bar after bypassing the red carpet.

I just could not contain myself--I know there's nothing lamer than journalists asking for autographs or pics--but f*ck me, we're talking Ali G here.

Approached him and sheepishly asked him to pose with me.

He very politely declined. In a serious tone he declared, "I NEVER take photos with anyone or speak on record out of character." At which point Isla Fischer came to my defense, "Oh, come on! Let this girl take a photo with you! Don't be such a grouch!"

He eventually sorta broke down and scribbled on a napkin:

"Hey [MY ACTUAL FIRST NAME HERE], keep your poonani clean. Ali G."

snugbug

@xhack: Agreed. The Conan appearance actually made me less interested in the movie. The Letterman appearance was far better and humanized SBC in a way that's probably beneficial to him, since he's run the course of his Ali G rep.

He's talented and versatile and it seems like he doesn't want to get marginalized as some Methody/Andy Kaufman type.

He did Conan as Bruno and basically spent the whole time accusing Conan of looking at his package and then stripping. It wasn't as funny or interesting as this.

xhack

He went on Stewart as himself to promote Borat (after also going on Stewart AS Borat), so it's not like this is a first time thing.

@TedSez: This was a perfect chance to use the new edit feature! See Gawker I am paying attention :)

jorel845

Sacha Baron Cohen seems to be admired as much as he has been hated by Rodeo-goers and now, 'terrorists'. It doesn't matter whether the 'terrorists' were armed... all they would need is a burlap sack with "Bruno" embroidered on the outside. It worked on Pamela...

Darth_Jim