Edmonton Journal (Alberta)
March 2, 2007 Friday
Final Edition
Bare buttocks made him famous: Nude wrestling in Borat leads to job
offers
Katherine Monk, CanWest News Service
When movie stars hit the big screen in the sky, news outlets
generally pull a memorable eight-by-ten production still from a
signature role.
Actor Ken Davitian doesn’t mind the obituary tradition. It’s the
choice of picture that has him reflecting on his place in the larger
film universe.
"When they look for an eight-by-ten that represents my body of work
upon my passing, it’s going to be a picture of my naked butt," says
Davitian.
The California-born actor isn’t being facetious. As the man beside
faux newsman Borat Sagdiyev — a.k.a. Sacha Baron Cohen — Davitian
is now better known as faux Kazakhstani producer Azamat Bagatov, the
other on-camera personality in Borat: Cultural Learnings of America
for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, to be released on DVD
Tuesday.
Davitian says there are plenty of off-colour hijinks on the DVD, and
those seeking even more time in the presence of Davitian and his
message of hope — and hair — can check out his personal appearance
schedule, which has him giving motivational lectures to college kids
across North America. Included is a stop at NAIT on March 15 and 16.
Some actors may have an ego problem with a bare derriere defining
their career, but Davitian says he remains grateful to Baron Cohen
for the opportunity to explore the backroads of America, and make his
backside famous in the process.
"I feel like I’ve arrived," says Davitian. "My life before Borat was
about going crazy in a terrible way. Now my life is going crazy in a
good way."
A working actor for the better part of his 53 years, Davitian has a
long list of credits to his name, but most of them add up to little
more than a few seconds of screen time and a credit as the "fat man"
or "fat bartender."
"I was going out for auditions all the time, hoping I’d get the job.
That was my life — that and my sandwich shop, the Dip, where I work
all day long. I’d get to auditions smelling like roast beef."
Davitian says the Borat audition was relatively mysterious.
"Usually it will say who the producers of the film are, but Larry
Charles was nowhere on the sheet. I was told it was a really
low-budget movie by two guys — and my audition was on the last day
of callbacks. All I knew is they were looking for an Eastern European
look, and I went in character — as a dumpy guy who spoke in broken
English," says Davitian. "The only reason I even went to the audition
was because I liked the script breakdown."
Once Davitian got the news he had the part, more information emerged
— such as the names Sacha Baron Cohen and Larry Charles. He was
excited at the prospect of working with a Seinfeld producer and the
Brit comic behind Da Ali G Show, but he still had no idea Borat would
be the year’s biggest comic and cultural sensation.
"Once we started shooting, it didn’t take long before I realized what
it could be."
Now famous for his bare-buttocks scene, the only challenge Davitian
faces at auditions is clarifying his status as a born and bred
American. While he credits his extended Armenian family for certain
inspirations of character, Azamat is all his creation.
"I can’t tell you how lucky I feel … . Not only am I getting offers
and getting work, … but my butt is legend."
Indeed, the story of Davitian’s derriere — and the now-infamous
naked wrestling sequence — is the stuff Hollywood dreams are made
of. It’s also the source of a fleshy bond between the two performers.
"I think Sacha and I will be friends for life. We don’t have to call
each other or see each other. It’s more like having a brother. And
let’s face it, when you wrestle naked with another man, you can’t
help but form a special bond."