March 21, 2009

Why Larry Charles shaved off his beard.

"'It was time. I think other people's reaction is much more radical than my own. They look at me like the Elephant Man now. They're like, "What happened to you?"... [I]t's ironic that I had to shave my beard to hide myself. I took those things off and people don't know who I am.'... On the other hand, he learned while collaborating with Sacha Baron Cohen on the wildly successful Borat movie how image and influence can go hand in hand. Before that he often looked like 'a dirty, hippy-like homeless person'... One day while directing an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, he went to grab some food and was accosted by a guard. 'He was like throwing me off the set,' he says, laughing. 'The AD (assistant director] had to come over and go, "Wait a minute, that's the director!"'"

10 comments:

traditionalguy said...

How very interesting that Clothes and Grooming make people's first impression of you favorable or unfavorable. Who could have known? The article itself is just a publicity release to get up an audience to see a movie against today's favorite strawman, Christian Fundamentalists, that everyone is now given permission to hate. But it is interesting to watch Larry Charles finally discove social skills that any loving family of Fundamentalists would have educated him into as a small child.

Unknown said...

I have never heard of Larry Charles in my life.

Michael Haz said...

Cut to the chase: Larry Charles changed is appearance in order to not be easily recognized by muslims who will want to kill him because of his movie.

Now that's a topic worthy of a movie.

The Dude said...

I grew my beard out so that I would look like a muslim fundie. Must blend in with our new overlords.

But as a nice Jewish lady friend of mine said "Your blue eyes are a dead giveaway that you are not from the middle east."

There you have it - I used the word Jewish in a comment - have at it, you progressive naggers. D'oh - can I use the word "nagger"?

May Obama (PBUH) have mercy on me.

former law student said...

Cohen ... and encouraged the director to wear a suit. It worked. "It's amazing," says Charles. "When I used to go to the airport the security would just hover near me. Now they actually let me bypass the lines."

Sure, because he looked like a Hasidic merchant.

Beth said...

Rich important people love to think they're transgressing the norms. They tried to throw me off the set because I was a dirty hippie!

Sure.

Wince said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
The Crack Emcee said...

I sported that exact same look (beard, shades) for many years. Considering the similarities in our outlooks, I'm not surprised. I'm over it now, but people do make you want to hide, that's for sure.

Having Sacha for a friend, and a foil, probably helps.

Wince said...

They look at me like the Elephant Man now.

Sounds like Obama's Special Olympics joke, putatively deprecating oneself with the attributes of someone else's affliction. Absent the ham-handed delivery, of course.

I wonder if Charles ghostwrote that one for the president?

The neurofibromatosis community must be pissed.

blake said...

Actually, if you look like a bum, wear a hat and sunglasses, you can pretty much make the entire commissary of any movie studio watch you out of the corner of their eyes while ordering lunch.

Movie studio security guards, on the other hand...well, let's just say we never got along.