Sacha Baron Cohen Is... Himself!
On Late Show, David Letterman interviewed Sacha Baron Cohen, star of Brüno. What's significant here is that he interviewed Baron Cohen, and not Brüno. In the past, as when he was promoting Borat and Da Ali G Show, Baron Cohen has preferred to be interviewed as his character.
Some journalists don't have a problem with that. I do. I don't blame Baron Cohen for promoting his projects—loved the earlier ones, haven't yet seen Brüno—or not wanting to dispel an illusion, but to me that crosses the line between reporting and public relations. [Update: Not that I'm saying Letterman is a reporter obliged to follow Associated Press guidelines; my peeve has to do with journalists interviewing actors in character.] Not to mention the line between reporting and being a local-morning-show-host pretending to interview Miss Piggy. Even for funsies, reporting is about relating something actually true, not helping someone create a character. Call me uptight. (When I did a piece on the launch of The Colbert Report, I talked to the actual, real-guy Stephen Colbert, who is a great interview.)
And guess what? Actual, honest-to-God Sacha Baron Cohen is funny! And interesting! After the jump, here he is, telling David Letterman how he found a terrorist to interview (the terrorist, apparently, was also not in character):
"It's not that easy to find an actual terrorist. In fact, your government has been looking for one for about nine years." I'd like to see Brüno top that!
(Gawker, by the way, wonders if it was because Brüno is too gay for The Late Show. Valid question, though it doesn't change the principle. But tell me if I'm being too uptight here.)
Update: My colleague Richard Lacayo has a new essay on Brüno. Personal note: I sat by Richard at our screening of Borat, and I can vouch from memory that we both experienced the gasping-laughing-beyond-laughing, at the nude-wrestling scene, that he describes in his lede paragraph. Consider that fact-checked!
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Couldn't agree more, James! It was refreshing to actually see Mr. Cohen as himself -- I'd forgotten he had a British accent. And as you implied, it allowed the interview to reveal some actual behind-the-scenes information, rather than just setting up punchlines for Bruno.
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I'm pretty sure I saw Sacha as himself on the Daily Show at some point. A more intrepid commenter would find proof, but I'm quite comfortable just asserting.
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Meh, a late night show is just supposed to be funny, so I don't have a problem with people staying in character. It already is a PR thing. It's not like Conan or Dave will ever show a clip and then say "This movie doesn't actually look very good." Every band that comes on has a great new album and every actor is in a great new movie/show.
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That said, I think it's much more interesting to talk to the person, not the character. And non-late night shows I agree, you can't stay in character. -
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@anon76: I know he has given interviews as himself before, but not too often. The Daily Show, I am too untrepid/lazy to find out.
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@JP Damnit, I trepped:
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I see Dave's show wasn't the first time he discussed terrorism.
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And I agree with you that actual journos should not interview folks in character, but late night is pure PR. -
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Shoot- tried to embed, failed. My fault for trying to intreper:
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http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=116052&title=sacha-baron-cohen -
7
Agreed that late night shouldn't have to follow the same rules; I just meant that as a jumping-off point for my real pet-peeve, when actual news organizations do in-character interviews. Tried to clarify in the post.
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@JP-while I have you here, do you have a link for how to go about imbedding video in Time's Blog format? I've seen folks do it over in Swampland, so I know its possible for commenters to do it. You know, for next time I feel like overtrepping.
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@anon76: I don't--have barely mastered embedding in blog posts--but we use WordPress as a platform, so I guess I would search on that. Will ask if/how it's possible.
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Thanks James!
In the meantime, I'm going to play around a bit trying to figure out how to embed- hope you don't mind. At the very least, it will up your hit count (not that you're hurting after the MJ kerfuffle).ps- what the hell just happened to the formatting?
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@anon76: they're right in the middle of implementing a redesign. I suspect that is keeping tech staff busy. But I did put the question in.
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Attempt one:
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Damnit!
Attempt three:
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Screw it- I'm done guessing. I've noticed that most if not all of the commenter embeds are from youtube- don't know if that's because of difficulties with other media sites or just because that's the natural place to find web videos- witness:
http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2009/07/08/alberto-gonzales-finds-a-job/#comment-79051If you still have the techies' ear(s), here's a vote for keeping earliest comments at the top of the page, newest comments at the bottom.
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Here's a vote negating anon76's vote. I scroll down and want to read oldest first.
- poniewozik We need "100-yr plan" & to "think like the Chinese"; Glenn Beck starting to sound like his own portrayal of Wh House. http://bit.ly/7tUIP8 - 34 minutes ago
- poniewozik iPhone is the best kitchen gadget I own. Except makes a lousy spatula. - 20 hours ago
- poniewozik Help jog my memory for year's end. Your worst TV shows of 2009 nominees? (BESIDES Jay Leno.) #worsttvof2009 - 1 day ago
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