Ken Davitian - Episode 414

Steve Cooper talks with actor Ken Davitian. Ken began acting full time in the early 1990s and spent the majority of his career being typecast as a short, fat, bumbling, and sometimes sleazy character in low budget B-movies before gaining small guest spots on television in such series as the HBO sports comedy Arli$$, The Shield and the HBO hit drama Six Feet Under. However in 2006, he would land a role that would dramatically change his life and acting career forever. He auditioned for a supporting role in the Sacha Baron Cohen project Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. The part he was going for was that of Azamat, the stout, rotund production assistant to the naïve, yet endearing, foreign reporter Borat. It was reported that during the audition, he began reading lines in an Eastern dialect of Armenian, prompting a comically entertaining back-and-forth between he and Cohen. Cohen instantly demanded that he be given the part of Azamat. His performance became somewhat of a cult, comedic classic and led him to more roles in feature films like the parody Meet the Spartans, the spy comedy Get Smart, the Oscar winning The Artist and others. His TV credits include It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Hawaii Five-O, Two and a Half Men, Big Time Rush and Ray Donovan.