Sasha Noem Baron Cohen is an English comedian, screenwriter, producer, director and composer. Fame was brought to him by fictional characters: Ali Ji, reporter Borat Sagdiev, Admiral-General Khaffaz Aladdin and Bruno, whom he played in a number of comedy films and shows.
The actor has more than a hundred roles in television and film projects, including participation in entertainment shows, film awards and documentaries.
Sasha doesn't like to give interviews. He can rarely be persuaded to talk to the press. Many colleagues say that only on the set does he become open to communication, the rest of the time the actor prefers solitude and tries to appear in public as little as possible.
short biography
The future comedian was born in England into a Jewish family. His father was the owner of a large chain of clothing stores. Mom worked in a clinic, where she was an instructor in special remedial gymnastics. Sasha has two brothers, one of whom today works with him in the studio and writes music for films and entertainment programs.
Sasha studied at a private school, then at a boys' school in Hertfordshire. After completing his primary education, he entered History at Christ's College in Cambridge, and then - at the university.
During his studies, the young man became interested in theatrical creativity and began to play in amateur performances of the youth troupe. Then he joined the drama club of the University of Cambridge and took part in many productions, including the famous classical performances "Cyrano de Bergerac" and "Fiddler on the Roof".
After graduation, Baron Cohen worked for some time in the modeling business, and later became the leading weather forecast on one of the satellite channels.
Upon learning that a well-known television channel announced a competition for the role of the host of entertainment programs, Sasha decided to take part in it. He posted a video presentation claiming to be a reporter from Albania (this image later became the prototype for the famous reporter Borat). He passed a competitive selection and was hired as a leader of youth projects.
In 1998, Sasha created the image of Ali G. and appeared in it in the entertainment program The 11 O'Clock Show. The audience liked the character so much that it was decided to create a separate show called "Ali Ji Show". It was released on screens for several years and became cult.
Film career
After years of success with Baron Cohen's television show, the comedy film Ali J in Parliament was made in 2000. He had immense popularity all over the world and brought real fame to the young actor.
A few years later, a new image of Sasha appeared on the screens. This time it was the Kazakh journalist Borat Sagdiev. Despite the fact that the picture was shot in the genre of a parody comedy, its appearance on the screens caused a storm of indignation in Kazakhstan. A series of statements followed, demanding that the film be banned from screening. It was indeed banned, but this only added to Baron Cohen's popularity.
Oddly enough, after a few years Sasha was expressed gratitude on behalf of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan. It turned out that the flow of travelers to the country increased many times due to the fact that many foreign tourists wanted to personally visit the places where the character Borat was from.
As a result, the film with the actor gathered a record box office at the box office. The actor received two prestigious Golden Globe and MTV awards at once.
A year later, Sasha starred in the film by the famous director Tim Burton. He played Signor Adolfo Pirelli in Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
In 2009, another masterpiece with the participation of Baron Cohen, "Bruno", was released. This time, the actor portrayed a TV presenter working on a channel for homosexuals, who manages to embarrass anyone who happens to be near him. The film was a huge success with viewers and became one of the highest grossing not only in the United States, but also in other countries.
Sasha's next work was the role of Admiral-General Aladdin and his double in the film "The Dictator". The film received good reviews from film critics and grossed over $ 179 million.
In 2010, it was announced that Baron Cohen would star in a biopic about Freddie Mercury. Sasha was actively involved in the work and even consulted with such famous directors as David Fincher and Tom Hooper. But in the process of preparing for filming, he had disagreements with the former members of Queen, in particular with Brian May. It was May who argued that the actor would not be able to completely transform into the image, the audience would see on the screens not Freddie, but Sasha Baron Cohen.
The actor himself said in some interviews that he wanted the film to be tougher and dedicated specifically to Mercury, and not to the entire group. They also talked about raising the rating of the film to R, at which it would be banned from viewing to persons under 17 years old. However, the Queen musicians disagreed with him and demanded that the picture come out with a PG rating, which means that even children could watch it. As a result of all these disagreements, Cohen left the project. As a result, Rami Malek got the main role in the picture.
Income and fees
Sacha Baron Cohen is one of the highest paid representatives of show business in America.
Today his production company Four by Two is one of the most famous and profitable. Thanks to the characters played by Baron Cohen, her earnings exceeded $ 350 million.
The company is run by producer Todd Schulman. He, like the actor himself, tries not to meet with the press and does not give interviews. Interestingly, even when Shulman is negotiating with possible partners, he comes to the meeting wearing makeup and uses different names so that no one can understand that he is a representative of a well-known company.
Several years ago, Sasha signed an exclusive multi-million dollar contract with Paramount Pictures.
Baron Cohen is also the founder of a foundation looking for young talent in England.
How much Sasha Baron Cohen earns today is hard to say for sure. Several years ago, he received 13 million pounds for each role and up to 20% of the amounts received from the rental of each picture.
In 2010, the actor bought his own estate in Los Angeles in the Hollywood Hills, paying $ 12.6 million for it.
