The Guardian, UK
Oct 27 2006
First Sight: Ken Davitian
Phelim O’Neill
Friday October 27, 2006
The Guardian
Who is he?
A fiftysomething American-born actor of Armenian descent, Davitian
has appeared in small roles in such fine television fare as Six Feet
Under, The Shield and ER.
Any movies?
Yes, how could you forget Frogtown 2?
He doesn’t look like a movie star – are you sure he’s an actor?
Any town that regarded his type as their prettiest son should just
pack up and attempt to join better-looking towns. People with Ken’s
looks tend not to go to Hollywood in search of stardom. They really
should: they stand more chance of getting regular work than 99% of
all the bland blondes who arrive by the busload.
How come?
Regardless of acting talent, Davitian’s continued employment can be
attributed to two physical characteristics: he’s fat and, by American
movie standards, foreign-looking. Thankfully for him, tinseltown’s
worldview means anyone not meeting its rigid standards of physical
perfection can easily fill the role of "foreigner".
By foreigner, you mean … ?
Doesn’t matter – they’re all the same, apparently. Ken has played a
Luciano, a Jorge, a Krikor, a Ramon, an Igor and even a Jesus.
You say he’s overweight, too.
Has this held him back?
Nope, that’s an asset, too: his earliest roles include Fat Man in
Maximum Force and Fat Bartender in American Raspberry. But he did
appear as plain old Bartender a few years later in Private Wars,
suggesting a very literal lean period in his career.
Where can I see him now?
You can see more of him than is decent in Borat: Cultural Learnings
of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, in which
he plays "operator of camera instrument" Azamat Bagatov, Borat’s
companion. We may never know how Sacha Baron Cohen persuaded him to
be involved in the film’s notorious hotel room scene – a sequence
that starts in a bathtub then spirals so far out of control that a
nude Baron Cohen and Davitian were almost arrested.
Ken Davitian could well be the bravest actor you’ve never heard of.
For that alone he deserves your attention.