Sacha Baron Cohen To Receive Performer Of The Year Award At Santa Barbara Film Fest

Sacha Baron Cohen is set to receive the Outstanding Performer of the Year award at this year’s Santa Barbara International Film Festival for his impeccable acting in movies such as “The Trial of the Chicago 7” and “Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm.”

The 49-year-old actor, who played the role of Abbie Hoffman in “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” will receive the accolade on April 7, 2021, Entertainment Tonight first reported.

Speaking about the award, Roger Durling, executive director of SBIFF, noted that Cohen had an exceptional 2020 and he managed to “capture our interest, our imagination as well as the zeitgeist.”

The “Dictator” star also issued a statement to share his excitement and revealed that it is an honor for him to be given the award.

“It’s an honor to be recognized and to stand in the company of such incredible past recipients. I’m very grateful to Roger, SBIFF, and everyone who believes that cinema, whether drama or satire, can shine a light on injustice and bigotry and even provide a laugh or two along the way,” Cohen said in a statement.

Cohen has now joined the elite group of actors and actresses who have previously won the prestigious trophy. The list includes the likes of Charlize Theron (2004), Kate Winslet (2006), Heath Ledger (2006), Helen Mirren (2007), Angelina Jolie (2008), Penelope Cruz (2009), Colin Firth (2010) and James Franco (2011).

Viola Davis (2012), Jennifer Lawrence (2013), Cate Blanchett (2014), Steve Carell (2015), Saoirse Ronan and Brie Larson (2016), Ryan Gosling (2017), Margot Robbie and Allison Janney (2018), Rami Malek (2019), Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson (2020) have also been given the same recognition.

Cohen started his professional acting career in the U.K. in 1995 and gained a lot of popularity with his character Ali G that made regular appearances during “The 11 O’Clock Show” from 1998 to 1999. However, his moment of glory came in 2006 when he came out with the movie “Borat,” a mockumentary where he played a Kazakh journalist named Borat Sagdiyev.

The movie turned out to be a gigantic success for him and received numerous nominations. The actor won the Best Actor award (Comedy or Musical) for the film and was even nominated for an Oscar in the best original screenplay category.

“The Spy,” “The Dictator,” “Bruno,” “Les Miserables,” and “Hugo” are some of Cohen’s big projects.

Meanwhile, Cohen is considered to be a frontrunner in the best supporting actor category for his role in Aaron Sorkin’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7.”