BORAT in talks to play Pirelli in Sweeney Todd film- Page 2

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 11/12/06 at 2:14pm

I think Sacha is actually a really talented actor. This isn't the worst that could happen?

Who did you guys want? Donna Lynne?

[Plum]

Posted: 11/12/06 at 2:43pm

Um...our source on this is IMDB? They are extremely unreliable. Hugely so.

[mijofly19]

Posted: 11/12/06 at 2:50pm

This has been reported for a long time before it popped up on imdb. I believe Fox News stated it first.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 11/12/06 at 2:58pm

Elphaba, suffering from Mr. Roxy syndrome, are you?

[TomMonster]

Posted: 11/12/06 at 3:04pm

These talks have been going on for awhile...it's probably been settled by now. (Although, I've heard no official word, yet).

Sondheim likes Cohen, so it could very well happen (if it hasn't already).

I expect we'll hear the entire cast list shortly as they start recording the soundtrack very soon...

[wexy]

Posted: 11/12/06 at 3:11pm

This week in the cartoon biographic in the News, it said Cohen was in productions of "Fiddler on the Roof" and Cyrano de Bergerac at Christ College in Cambridge.

[Wildcard]

Posted: 11/12/06 at 4:50pm

Baron Cohen is a very talented actor and has already proven to be good at accents. He can definitely pull off the italian/irish accent. He is also physically close to my concept of what Adolfo Pirelli looks like (as influenced by the tour cast DVD). Unlike most nay-sayers, I am very excited to see this film

[Jon]

Posted: 11/12/06 at 4:56pm

I'd love to have seen him as Cyrano!

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 11/12/06 at 5:41pm

Why are people disgusted by this? Go watch the Sweeney Todd DVD and tell me this would not be a perfect role for him.

[Julian2]

Posted: 11/12/06 at 7:00pm

I think this would be great casting in terms of both character and marketability, which is the best kind of casting.

[colored by esteem]

Posted: 11/12/06 at 8:00pm

Go Sacha Baron Cohen!

Awesome!
Updated On: 11/12/06 at 08:00 PM

[IAMmyownMUSICAL]

Posted: 11/12/06 at 9:29pm

I hope LMK does get Johanna. She's magical.

[moulinrougehk]

Posted: 11/12/06 at 10:19pm

Well, her image of Mary Poppins has already marked deeply in my heart, I really don't know whether she could make it. I hope she could...

[SweMozArt]

Posted: 11/12/06 at 10:42pm

I guess he is he tyred of playing Borat. Or perhaps he felt that he was out on a slippery slope with that character and wanted to have his feet back firm on the ground. Only with Pirelli!
Updated On: 11/12/06 at 10:42 PM

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 8:14pm

Well, he is making a Bruno movie...

after all these lawsuits from people unwittingly in the Borat movie clear up...

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 8:28pm

I hope this happens! this is inspired casting!

[TheaterAddict7652]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 9:19pm

I think that Sacha Baron Cohen is a perfect choice for Pirelli. All of the characters he's known for playing are so over-the-top, and Pirelli is such a diva; I think the role would suit Cohen perfectly.

[Wildcard]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 9:24pm

I'm sure we will see Borat again in the future but I don't think it has anything to do with Sasha Baron Cohen being tired of Borat. The problem is everyone knows who Borat is now and it will be very difficult for him to coax people to be truthful, which is the magic of that character. If ever there is another Borat movie, it will probably be more scripted like the Ali G movie.

[SweMozArt]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 9:44pm

Well actually "tyred" was not a spelling mistake (italian tyre firm Pirelli). Yeah i know it was bad.

[Muhlethaler]

Posted: 11/14/06 at 5:15am

I guess this makes it pretty official. From Variety:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117953850.html?categoryid=13&cs=1

Cohen to cut chops on 'Sweeney Todd'
Thesp signs on for role in Burton pic
By MICHAEL FLEMING

Sacha Baron Cohen has firmed plans to follow "Borat" with some barbering in "Sweeney Todd," the screen version of the Stephen Sondheim musical Tim Burton will shoot for DreamWorks and Warner Bros.
Cohen will play Signor Adolfo Pirelli, a barber who becomes the nemesis of Sweeney Todd. Todd's the barber who teams with the murderess Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter) to kill people, grind them up and use them in her meat pies.

Cohen will be putting in only a couple weeks of work.

Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald are producing with Richard D. Zanuck and John Logan. Logan wrote the script.

Since "Sweeney Todd" shoots in London in February, the picture is the next up for Cohen. The musical offers him the opportunity to create another eclectic character, as he did when he played the race car driver Jean Girard in "Talladega Nights."

As "Borat" continues to establish itself as a box office juggernaut, Cohen has just begun working out the story beats of "Bruno," the feature he'll make for Universal, playing the Austrian fashion reporter character he created for "Da Ali G Show."

"Bruno" is on course to shoot next year. Also looming for Cohen are two longstanding acting attachments, in the Tina Fey-scripted "Curly Oxide and Vic Thrill" at Paramount, and the remake of the Francis Veber comedy "Dinner for Schmucks" at DreamWorks.

Cohen's repped by Endeavor and managed by Jimmy Miller.

[FrontRowCenter2]

Posted: 11/14/06 at 7:03am

I agree that this is inspired casting - sit back, wait, and I bet you'll be surprised.

[BwayBaby18]

Posted: 11/14/06 at 10:10am

I will just wait till this appears in the 5.50 bin at WalMart.... i'm sure it will be there once it is released on dvd.

[ruthiefan_felix]

Posted: 11/14/06 at 11:11am

If it's Sacha Baron Cohen I wud be happy. He's great as an actor. Im sure he's VERY different in real person than Borat!
Besides, I acn always trust on Sondheim's choice on Tim Burton whom I respect. Im sure this film will be great. Yes... I do hope it was Meryl as Lovett and Helen as Beggar Woman but hey, Helen is a great actress nonetheless (not a fan of hers in Hamlet tho!)
Anne Hatheway would be a GREAT choice for Johanna. But I think Laura can totally pull it off.

[whiskedaway]

Posted: 11/14/06 at 1:53pm

"I will just wait till this appears in the 5.50 bin at WalMart.... i'm sure it will be there once it is released on dvd"

If only they cast Patti Lupone as Mrs. Lovett, then we would not have to worry about that happening!

[Wildcard]

Posted: 11/14/06 at 1:58pm

If they had cast Patti LuPone as Mrs. Lovett, this would've gone straight to DVD instead of being released in the theaters. Nothing against Patti (and don't want to get into any arguements about her) but film and theater are two different animals.