Django Unchained Courting Sacha Baron Cohen

LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 06: Actor/director Sacha Baron Cohen poses backstage during the People's Choice Awards 2010 held at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on January 6, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for PCA) *** Local Caption *** Sacha Baron Cohen
Sacha Baron Cohen. (Charley Gallay/Getty Images) Photo: Charley Gallay/Getty Images for PCACharley Gallay/2010 Getty Images

The inappropriately hilarious mind behind Borat and Brüno is in final negotiations to join director Quentin Tarantino’s Southern slave tale, which pits Jamie Foxx as the freed slave trying to rescue his indentured wife, played by Kerry Washington, from the sadistic clutches of Leonardo DiCaprio, Kurt Russell, Samuel L. Jackson, and Don Johnson. (Quite the villainous posse.) While unclear in which camp Cohen fits — the goodies or the baddies — Tarantino specifically wanted him to play the relatively minor role of Scotty the gambler, who buys Washington’s character to be his female companion. With production set to start on the film in early 2012, this is likely to be one of the last high-profile casting announcements left for this much-anticipated “Southern-fried spaghetti Western.â€

Django Unchained Courting Sacha Baron Cohen