Americans are weeks away from the premiere of Sacha Baron Cohen‘s latest masterpiece, Bruno, where he plays a gay Austrian from Mars who throws both his sexuality and groin in the face of anyone who dares get in his way (this includes homophobes and those in the fashion industry… no one is spared.) Yet, that hasn’t stopped the neverending press mill from shoveling out heaps of Bruno publicity weeks in advance, be it in the form of a naked GQ cover or, more subtly, throwing his taint in Eminem‘s face.
But who is the man behind Bruno. (No, not like that.) Well, according to Austrian Dance Judge Alfons Haider, the inspiration behind Bruno is Austrian Dance Judge Alfons Haider. Says the Telegraph:
The presenter of Austrian Strictly Come Dancing has been heavily suggested by the press in his home country as the figure on whom Baron Cohen has based his pitilessly satirical figure, the gay fashion fanatic who wants to be “the most famous Austrian since Hitler”.
Unlike Bruno Haider doesn’t “do” fashion, although he admits he is “interested” in it. Haider has been known to compare himself to Zak Efron in High-School Musical…
The star describes himself as “a serious actor” as well as presenting “some of the most important TV shows in Austria”. He also recently starred as Coco Chanel’s husband in a television show about her life: “I played a Nazi with a heart – I’m lucky that an American journalist never found this picture, actually.”
Yup, that sounds like Bruno alright. Especially the Zac Efron part.
So just who IS Alfons Haider? We did some light Youtube digging and unearthed the following clips of the man that are, as they say, “must see”. First up, a completely unexplainable clip of Alfons appearing on some sort of Austrian talk show that takes place in a palace, which finally answers that age old question “What is America’s Late Night missing?” The answer… is everything happening here. The language barrier isn’t even important:
LOLacaust? Clearly. Flamboyant? Not at all. But wait! There’s more… we’ve uncovered an almost moving clip of Alfons performing in full drag. He might not be Bruno, but he is hands down a fabulous Austrian gay (fast forward to 1:30):
Austrians = The New Hilarity.
