Sacha Baron Cohen Is Last Major Casting For Quentin Tarantino's DJANGO UNCHAINED
Will feature in my favourite scene from the script involving a tense card game opposite Leonardo DiCaprio's villain Calvin Candie.
In the final piece of the Django Unchained casting puzzle, Quentin Tarantino has secured Sacha Baron Cohen to play a small but significant role in his new black slavery/Spaghetti Western revenge film. The versatile Brit is playing Scott Harmony, the as written overweight and shy 24 year old son of a rich daddy who buys him the slave Broomhilda in a bid to cure his confidence issues. Obviously Cohen is anything but overweight and he turned 40 this year so they'll be a few tweaks from the screenplay and I'm sure the two eccentrics Cohen & Tarantino will have fun together crafting this character. His screen time will be minimal but as written it's my favourite scene in the whole film (it revolves around a card game with Leonardo DiCaprio's Calvin Candie) and Tarantino knows the part is a good one and has been searching for a memorable face to play it. Recently we heard he had offered Jonah Hill a role in the movie, which we are pretty sure was Harmony, but he couldn't do it over scheduling. By now you all know the plot and everybody who is in it I'm sure, but for one last time here it goes... Oscar winner Jamie Foxx leads as the black slave Django who is freed, trained under the tutelage of Christoph Waltzs eccentric former dentist turned bounty hunter, and then becomes an all out Clint Eastwood style gunslinger, hellbent on saving his bride (Kerry Washington) who is enslaved by Leonardo DiCaprios evil plantation owner. Samuel L. Jackson is DiCaprios right-hand man Stephen and Kurt Russell is the ruthless henchman to DiCaprio, Ace Woody. Kill Bill's Laura Cayouette is Candie's sister, Lara Lee Candie-Fitzwilly. Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Anthony LaPaglia are two Australian hicks and mean brothers. There's also the Brittle brothers who will be portrayed by M.C. Gainey and Tom Savini as Big John and Ellis, two of the slave owners who separate Django and Broomhilda. Don Johnson is Spencer Bennett, a rich plantation owner and prostitute slave pimp, and all round slimy character. We now know Sacha Baron Cohen is the shy Scott Harmony. Forgotten 80s thesps Gerald McRaney, Tom Wopat, James Russo and Dennis Christopher have supporting roles and The Wires Michael K. Williams claims Tarantino is creating a role for him in the picture. Dexter's James Remar and CSI's Rex Linn are also on board along with Frozen River actress Misty Upham. And finally Tarantino has found a few roles for his friends with Tarantino's old acting school friend Todd Allen and musician/actor RZA (who helped craft the soundtrack for Kill Bill) rounding out the cast. Django Unchained will begin shooting in January in New Orleans and will be in theatres Christmas Day next year.