Anna Faris plays the female lead in “The Dictator,” Sacha Baron Cohen’s film about a Hussein-like dictator who gets secretly replaced by a lookalike goat herder and now must find new meaning in a life in New York City. The movie, which is inspired by “Zabibah and the King,” a book about a benevolent dictator that was revealed to be written by Hussein himself, will feature the “Borat” star as both the dictator and herder, and Farris as the NYC organic store owner who opens his eyes to new possibilities.

Photos: Fame, Source

Sacha Baron Cohen films a scene for “The Dictator” on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York. In the scene he steals a woman’s lunch from a restaurant and is chased down by one of the waiters who tackles Sacha into a scene mat.

Photos: Fame

The Huffington Post has this exclusive first look at Sacha Baron Cohen’s new Saddam Hussein-inspired character for his new film, The Dictator.

Debuting exclusively at The Huffington Post, here is the first image of Sacha Baron Cohen in his Saddam Hussein-inspired costume for his new film, “The Dictator.” About a Hussein-like dictator who gets secretly replaced by a lookalike goat herder and now must find new meaning in a life in New York City, the film is inspired by “Zabibah and the King,” a book about a benevolent dictator that was revealed to be written by Hussein himself.

Baron Cohen will star as both the dictator and herder, and last month, it was announced that Anna Faris will play the NYC organic store owner who opens his eyes to new possibilities.

The book itself is about a benevolent, beloved king who falls in love with a beautiful, victimized girl who was raped by her cruel husband. Believe it or not, it’s a subtle allegory for Iraq and the United States — the king (based, obviously, on Saddam) is the peaceful Iraq, while the cruel, rapist husband is the Gulf War-waging United States.

The log line from Paramount, the film’s production home, turns subverts the premise, saying, “The film tells the heroic story of a dictator who risked his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed.”

Directed by Larry Charles, the film hits theaters May 11th, 2012.

I love SBC, I can’t wait to see what he’s up to next!

According to Deadline.com, Sacha Baron Cohen has officially signed on to play Queen frontman Freddie Mercury!

Peter Morgan is already working on a script focused on the band’s formative years, leading up to Queen’s appearance at Live Aid in 1985. Queen’s performance is considered one of the rock’s all-time great live concert appearances.

No word on whether or not Cohen will sing, or if they’ll use Mercury’s voice. He had such a unique voice, getting someone to copy it would be very difficult.

Freddie Mercury died of AIDS on November 24, 1991, but his final days will not be covered in the film.

More on the movie at the source

After a six-year engagement, Sacha Baron Cohen and Isla Fisher’s long-awaited wedding ceremony turned out to be the most intimate of affairs: Just six guests attended the traditional Jewish ceremony on March 15 in Paris.

And those six had to move quickly. In an effort to keep the celebration quiet, the bride and groom gave their loved ones “very little notice” ahead of the nuptials, according to Australia’s WHO magazine.

In an interview a year ago, Fisher revealed her yearning for a private ceremony. “It’s very important to me to have a beautiful ritual celebrated with my family and friends,” she said. “And when you are in the public eye, to keep that private and to make it happen without it being really visible is really difficult.”

Baron Cohen, 38, and Fisher, 34, have been together for about eight years, have a 2-year-old daughter, Olive. They spent a week at the Hotel Ritz in Paris and were photographed walking around the nearby Place Vendome wearing matching berets.

They are now back in London, where Fisher is filming new movie, Burke and Hare.

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James Cameron claims he wouldn’t have been offended if Sacha Baron Cohen had poked fun at Avatar at the Oscars.

The controversial Bruno star, 38, was slated to be a presenter on the show, but was dropped because he planned to appear onstage in a blue bodysuit impersonating a female Na’vi character from Cameron’s blockbuster film.

According to reports, Cohen was going to say he was pregnant with the Best Director nominee’s love child. But producers worried the skit would upset Cameron, so a solo Ben Stiller ended up appearing on stage instead.

Asked about Cohen’s skit, Cameron, 55, told UsMagzine.com on the red carpet: “Well I heard about that. But, you know, it’s all part of the fun, isn’t it?”

Even though he lost out to his ex, Hurt Locker director Kathryn Bigelow, in the Best Director and Best Picture categories, Cameron told Us it felt “amazing” to be at the show.

“It’s just such a great celebration of movies in general and I feel like there’s a real celebration here,” he told Us. “We’re just here to have fun.”

Source, Fame Pictures

Brittny Gastineau says she was in on the joke when she appeared in Sacha Baron Cohen’s No. 1 comedy Bruno.

In the movie, Bruno interviews Gastineau, 26, and shows her a photo of a sonogram which he says is of Jamie Lynn Spears’ unborn fetus. He then asks her if the fetus looks deformed and if she thinks Spears should abort or keep it. “Abort it!” Gastineau replies.

“I was joking around,” Gastineau now tells Usmagazine.com. “I was spoofing myself.”

When she was first asked to be interviewed by the faux Austrian journalist, “I didn’t know it was him.”

She says she was contacted because her E! show Gastineau Girls is broadcast in 54 different countries in Europe. “I was confused; I thought maybe it was still playing over there,” she says. “So I was like, ‘Ok.’”

“When I got there, I saw him, and I obviously knew it was him,” Gastineau tells Us. “I was like, ‘Oh, this is funny. This is a joke.’ I just went along with it.”

She says her friends and family knew she was kidding as well.

“Everyone knew I wasn’t serious when I said, ‘Abort a baby!’” she tells Us. “I was just playing along. Anyone who is going to see Bruno knows it’s a comedy, and I was totally joking around! I was not serious.”

She says she’s seen the movie and “thought it was amazing.” Cohen, she adds, “is a genius.”

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