LONDON (AP) - Sacha Baron Cohen rolled into London for the world premiere of “The Dictator” in style Thursday, standing in a bright orange Lamborghini flashing a replica golden pistol and dressed in a garish military uniform.
His new character follows in the footsteps of Ali G, Borat and Bruno, and sees the 40-year-old comedian play Admiral General Aladeen _ a freedom hating military dictator of the fictitious North African republic of Wadia.
Cohen, who is known to court controversy, attended the event at the Royal Festival Hall in character and didn’t disappoint his fans. Speaking at the premiere, he joked that he was the real father of Prince Harry.
He also said that he “was friendly with Prince Charles’ ex-wife,” the late Princess Diana. He then went on to speak about President Barack Obama’s recent announcement that he supports gay marriage.
The actor quipped, “Well I am very happy that Obama is endorsing gay marriage because it means that he is finally going to bless the union of (Nick) Clegg and your David Cameron,” referring to the deputy prime minister and the prime minister who are in a coalition government.
The film also stars Megan Fox, Ben Kingsley, John C. Reilly and Anna Faris.
Faris spoke about what it was like working with Cohen who she says stays in character for most of the time. She said “we do improv like 90 percent of the time and so as an actor you are forced to be on your toes.”
The film’s director Larry Charles, who has worked with Cohen on “Bruno” and “Borat” has got to see what the real Sacha Baron Cohen is really like.
Charles said, “He’s actually a very sweet, real, gentle down to earth person in real life and wants the world to be a better place, believe it or not, and that’s part of the reason that we do these movies _ to show the hypocrisy, show the things that people should be questioning. We want to help people question those things.”
“The Dictator” is released in the U.K. and U.S. on May 16.
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