‘Comedic Goldmine’ : Sacha Baron Co...

Elon Musk, who seems to consider himself a comedian, has opined that “The most entertaining outcome is the most likely

Published Time: 11.12.2024 - 23:31:29 Modified Time: 11.12.2024 - 23:31:29

Elon Musk, who seems to consider himself a comedian, has opined that “The most entertaining outcome is the most likely.”

So it seemed reasonable to ask Grok, the artificial-intelligence chatbot from Musk’s xAI startup that last month became public to all users on X (née Twitter): Who would be the most hilarious actor to portray Elon Musk in your opinion?

The answer from Grok: Sacha Baron Cohen, the British comedic actor known for “Borat,” “Brüno” and his Ali G rude-boy character. One reason, according to the AI bot, is the surprise factor: Casting Baron Cohen “would be unexpected in a way that would generate buzz. Fans might not see it coming, and the contrast between Cohen’s usual characters and Musk’s tech mogul persona could provide a comedic goldmine,” Grok said.

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Last year came news that a biopic of Musk, to be directed by filmmaker Darren Aronofsky and based on Walter Isaacson’s authorized biography of the tech mogul, is in the works at A24. No casting for the project has been announced — but the guessing game has been under way on who might land the role of Musk in the movie.

With Baron Cohen, “Musk’s public persona, with its blend of genius eccentricity, and controversy, could be ripe for the kind of satirical treatment Baron Cohen excels at,” according to Grok. “Imagine Baron Cohen’s take on Musk’s tweets, interviews, or public appearances — it would likely be both entertaining and insightful.” In addition, per Grok, Baron Cohen’s gift for physical comedy could “be utilized to exaggerate Musk’s mannerisms, his peculiar way of speaking, or even his notable moments like riding the Cybertruck or the Tesla Roadster into space.”

In the Musk-casting game, Grok also noted that Canadian actor Kevin Durand (“The Strain,” “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”)has been “a popular choice due to his physical resemblance to Musk, with fans and commentators noting his potential to portray Musk’s eccentricities.”

The AI chatbot also mentioned other actors that have been floated for the role, including Nicolas Cage (whose ability to bring “uniq -

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ue, manic energy to roles” could “capture Musk’s reported temperament”), Robert Downey Jr. (suggested in part because Musk had a brief appearance in “Iron Man 2” as himself), Rami Malek, Jon Hamm and Michael Fassbender (who “has experience with biopics, notably playing Steve Jobs” in Danny Boyle’s 2015 biopic of the late Apple co-founder and CEO).

Meanwhile, Isaacson said in an interview that Musk would like to see himself played by Benedict Cumberbatch. And Grok is also aware of memesters snarkily suggesting Kathy Bates should portray Musk “for her physical similarities to Musk.”

Note that Musk has expressed an affinity for Baron Cohen’s work. According to Musk, Baron Cohen’s 2012 film “The Dictator” provided inspiration for Musk on the pointy-tipped design of SpaceX’s Starship. On Joe Rogan’s podcast in 2021, Musk cited a scene in the movie in which Cohen’s titular dictator says of a nuclear missile “It is too round on the top. It needs to be pointy. Round is not scary. Pointy is scary.” Similarly, Musk told his engineers that Starship need to be “more pointy”: “I thought it would be funny to make it more pointy, so we did,” he told Rogan.

And in 2020, more than two years before Musk bought Twitter, the tech billionaire replied to Baron Cohen’s tweet about Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg — in which the actor said, “Why do we let 1 man control the information seen by 2.5 billion people? Facebook needs to be regulated by governments, not ruled by an emperor!” — saying, “#DeleteFacebook It’s lame.”

Baron Cohen, an Oscar-nominated actor and screenwriter, most recently starred alongside Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline in Alfonso Cuarón’s Apple TV+ thriller series “Disclaimer,” which premiered at the Venice Film Festival and was released on the streaming service in October. Baron Cohen will next be seen starring opposite Rosamund Pike in the upcoming Netflix romantic-comedy “Ladies First.”