Actor: Borat, Brüno, Hugo Cabret
Long before the acclaim for the daredevil comedy of Borat and Brüno had died down, a nagging question was hanging in the air: what on earth would Sacha Baron Cohen, 38, do next? Abusing the trust of unsuspecting celebrities and hoodwinking everyday bigots depends on being able to go undercover; once you're hogging magazine covers, you start running out of options. So it makes perfect sense for Baron Cohen, who has achieved coveted crossover success in America, to essentially carry on doing what he's good at: acting. Following some inspired voice work in the otherwise unexceptional Madagascar films, and a couple of florid supporting parts in Sweeney Todd and Talladega Nights, the dextrous 38-year-old has two projects on the horizon that will give the world a fair idea of the range of his talents. First he'll be seen in Martin Scorsese's 3D fantasy Hugo Cabret, then as Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in a Peter Morgan-scripted biopic that will culminate with the band's career-reviving turn at the 1985 Live Aid concert. It sounds like ideal casting, as well as a great opportunity for Baron Cohen to overcome the conventional snobbery about comedy and be seen as the fine actor he is. In his Borat/Brüno days, he was often likened to Peter Sellers; will one of these forthcoming movies prove to be his Dr Strangelove?