And who are you wearing, Mr. Dictator?
Sacha Baron Cohen is a movie star. Movie stars attend the Oscars. Therefore, it seems like it would be no big deal for Sacha Baron Cohen to attend the Oscars, right? His lovely wife Isla Fisher can show up in a gorgeous gown, Cohen will stand next to her in a tux–oh. Wait. That’s the problem.
According to The Hollywood Reporter (and multiple other outlets), Cohen, who was invited to the ceremony as a member of the cast of Best Picture nominee “Hugo,” wants to go as “The Dictator,” his character from his upcoming movie. In the film, which opens in May, Cohen plays the Hussein/Khadafi-esque military dictator of a vaguely Middle Eastern country, who is earnestly trying to protect his country from democracy. Obviously, the Oscars, which are watched worldwide, would be a huge promotional opportunity for the movie.
It also scares the Academy to pieces. Cohen won’t just show up in a costume, he’ll be the character, and he’ll never break character. Cohen has presented his idea to the Academy and it seems likely that they’ll say no. In addition to the fact that the Academy would be anxious about what he might say or do, there also are rules about promotional activities at the Oscars. If they let Cohen show up as “The Dictator,” they might have to face the prospect of Michael Shannon coming next year as General Zod. Of course, chances are Shannon would be better behaved, unless he takes the archvillain thing a little too seriously.
Cohen could argue that the Academy can’t control what he wears. They’ll probably try to talk him out of it, but a compromise could be, “All right, do what you want outside the theater, but once you’re inside, take it off, we’re all business.” They could also tell their broadcast partners to ignore him on the red carpet and not show any shots of him in the theater. Though you’d like to think that Cohen would be creative enough to squeeze in some how…
