14 DAY TRIAL // Sacha Baron Cohen has made his latest brainchild, the Austrian fashionista Bruno, famous for his wickedly insane fashion sense and his penchant for crashing major fashion shows. His latest accomplishment though tops everything else, as Bruno becomes the latest cover girl of the British Marie Claire, the fashion bible, while also being allowed to speak his mind on everything from Pink, Madonna and what it’s like to be Bruno.
What’s more, Sacha in full Bruno costume – which, of course, includes a silver body hugging jumpsuit and impeccable bleached hair with matching lipgloss – is not alone on the pages of the reputed fashion magazine, since he gets to rub elbows with none other than Alessandra Ambrosio, one of the highest-ranking models of our times. Still, the pearls of wisdom that Bruno more than happily shares with the readers will certainly make for a good laugh when the magazine hits newsstands in a couple of hours.
One thing that has always helped Sacha Baron Cohen stand out from the crowd is the fact that he does not leave his character once work on the film / mockumentary is done, but instead continues to promote it as if he were still shooting for it. The Marie Claire spread and interview is, in this sense, the perfect example of how well the British comedian can stretch the limits of art, so as to make it engulf real life as well, since not for one second does he pretend to be anyone else than Bruno.
“She’s amazing – 20 years in ze business und all the pressure und fame hasn’t changed her a bit. She’s remained a total [expletive].” Bruno says of Naomi Campbell, one of the most iconic supermodels ever to walk the catwalk. Next up is singer Pink, of whom Bruno says, “Just vatching him now on MTV. A great singer und so hunky.” British trainwreck Amy Winehouse is also not spared, since Bruno sees her as “not too skinny, in fact, for ein junkie she is actually zehr fat.”
Moving on to the A to Z Bruno bible, the fashionista says L goes to Madonna and stands for “Little black child... thanks to Madonna... it’s zis season’s vardrobe essential.” A is for Austria, where people grow up to “try und achieve ze Austrian dream – find a job, get a dungeon und raise a family in it.” Bruno says, hinting at the controversial case of Josef Fritzl. K stands for “Kampf, mein... ze fashion bible written by Austria’s black sheep Adolf Hitler. It literally translates as ‘My Flamboyance’.” Bruno explains.
“Bruno” is scheduled for theatrical release in the US on July 10.