Borat star Sacha Baron Cohen wows in new spy thriller about Israel’s original James Bond
He’s been a master of disguise in TV and film, scoring laughs as Borat, Bruno and Ali G. Now, in a new dramatic role, Sacha Baron Cohen goes undercover again in The Spy.
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Sacha Baron Cohen is not known for being serious — on screen anyway.
Famed for morphing effortlessly into all manner of button pushing, wildly fictitious characters — including diplomatic disaster Borat, potty-mouthed rapper Ali G, and international model, Bruno — Cohen is about to turn our existing impression of him on its head, with a rare dramatic role — retelling the compelling life story of Israel’s most famous Mossad agent, Eli Cohen in the limited series The Spy.
The choice to take on the role of the celebrated Israeli spy was highly personal for this multi-talented 47-year-old British-born actor and comic.
“When I was growing up, my dad told me about Eli Cohen and he had a book called Our Man in Damascus about him. And then when my dad passed away a few years ago, this project came up.”
Baron Cohen’s father, an accountant who owned a chain of clothing stores, was born in London and his Israeli-born mother was a yoga/fitness instructor.
Despite his father’s efforts to inspire him with Cohen’s story (no relation), it wasn’t until he read the screenplay by Gideon Raff (who penned Homeland and Prisoners of War) that he realised Cohen’s journey was the stuff of a real life superhero.
“It was so captivating that I read the entire series in one go,” raves Baron Cohen, clearly enthralled by his subject.
“The myth surrounding this guy, who was like an everyman accountant who ends up becoming a successful spy, is a truly amazing story.”
Cohen was born in Egypt in 1924, later studying electrical engineering at the University of Alexandria.
During his student days, he would take part in Israeli covert operations, and was eventually deported from Egypt, like many Jewish Egyptians — moving to Israel by 1956.
It was there his career took off, working in military intelligence for the Israeli Defence forces, before he tried his hand selling insurance.
That’s when Mossad came knocking, partly for his fluency in several Arabic languages.
Best known for his espionage work in Syria from 1961 to 1965, Cohen lived a flashy, double life in Damascus, posing as a Syrian businessman, Kamel Amin Thaabet.
His greatest achievement, however, was to infiltrate the upper echelon of the Syrian government and military, as a trusted member of the Ba’arth regime.
According to some reports, Syria’s then-Prime Minister even offered Cohen the position of Deputy Minister of Defence, all while he was communicating with Israel’s spy agency undercover.
So effective was his xx operation, that his actions are credited with being instrumental in the country’s victory in the Six-Day War in 1967 between Egypt, Jordan and Syria.
Says Baron Cohen: “He was this very quiet, low status accountant guy in Israel. He was a husband and father who goes to Damascus (after living in Argentina briefly) and takes on this persona as a gregarious playboy. He threw orgies, wild parties and became a celebrity.”
It’s a narrative Hollywood has tried to replicate, but this was Cohen’s real life and he did it all while keep love alive with his own wife and family, The Spy star says.
“You watch these spies like James Bond or Jason Bourne, womanisers who have sex with lots of women and get rid of them the next day without any empathy. It’s as if they’re afflicted with Asperger’s, which probably allows them to shoot people. But Cohen always remained very much in love with his wife, Nadia, and is a devoted father to his three kids.”
Considering Baron Cohen’s home life, as husband of Isla Fisher, 43, and father of three, could he reconcile Cohen’s decisions to put country before home?
“Well, I think you have to remember the context. It was 1961, 16 years after the end of World War II and there was still a real sense of fear, terror and jeopardy. He was always faced with this dilemma of ‘my family or my country.’ But to him, by protecting his country, meant protecting his family. They are one and the same thing.”
Counter-intelligence officers in Syria eventually uncovered Cohen’s conspiratorial activities and sentenced him to death. After an extended period of torture, he was hung in Marjeh Square, Damascus, aged 40, on May 18, 1965, and left to hang there for six hours.
“There’s a lot of controversy over how he died and there are different versions in history over why and how he got killed,” acknowledges Baron Cohen.
“What we do know is that when he was on his way to being executed, he stopped and insisted on writing a letter to his wife. The letter is heartbreaking because it’s completely selfless. He says through his undercover life as a spy, he was obsessed with his wife and he still had this great love for her. And he tells her, ‘Move on with your life, remarry, look after the children, keep on good terms with my family, and please don’t ever mourn me.’”
Baron Cohen is still moved by gesture, explaining: “The sad thing is that Nadia never remarried. I just hope that she’s going to love this, because it shows her late husband’s great love for her.”
More than 50 years since his death, Nadia is still fighting for the return of her late husband’s body; and just as Cohen’s life was shrouded in mystery, it appears, so was his death.
Reports in April this year suggested Mossad agents’ efforts to retrieve the body have been thwarted.
His brother, Maurice Cohen, also a Mossad agent, who died in 2006, confirmed to Israeli media that attempts were made to ‘kidnap’ his brother’s body.
Although Baron Cohen is fluent in Hebrew, which certainly helped with part of the storyline, he had to perfect various accents and dialects to convincingly pull off the spy’s masterful language skills.
“It was tricky,” he concedes.
“He’s an Egyptian-Israeli who becomes an Argentinian-Syrian. Even finding an accent coach good enough to know the difference between Syrian-Arabic/Egyptian-Arabic is tough, but I found a dialect coach in Morocco, who lived in Syria and he was my go-to guy on set. I’d say to him, ‘Okay. We’re Egyptian today’.”
This edge-of-your-seat thriller features several harrowing scenes, and Baron Cohen found himself unexpectedly involved in the emotion.
“There was a scene where Eli had to murder a civilian, and suddenly I started crying, tears just running out. It was an interesting experience, and Gideon Raff said to me, ‘Go with it, man. Don’t be scared. Don’t be the comedian who’s terrified of appearing vulnerable. Show this other side.’”
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He pauses: “Hopefully, I got away with it. I guess we’ll see. Worst comes to worse, people will just laugh at the performance.”
Early buzz with TV critics suggests Baron Cohen indeed got away with it, and then some.
Whether this marks a new career path for Cohen remains to be seen, but he is quick to point out it’s not his first ‘serious’ role.
“I’ve done straighter movies like Hugo, with (Martin) Scorsese, and Sweeney Todd and Les Mis, and although there’s comedic elements, there’s real drama where you have to play it completely real,” he says.
“My thing is, if there’s a character that I have to play and I’m compelled to do it, then I’ll do it whether it’s a comedy or drama.”
Considering Baron Cohen is a master of disguise and a remarkable mimic in his own right, would he make a good spy?
“I wouldn’t like to risk being tortured,” he grimaces, adding, straight-faced, “Well, it would depend on who’s doing the torture.”
* The Spy is streaming now on Netflix on Foxtel iQ4.
Originally published as Borat star Sacha Baron Cohen wows in new spy thriller about Israel’s original James Bond