Sacha Baron Cohen Says Marvel’s ‘Ironheart’ Producers Wanted To Ensure He Was “Not Insulted” Playing Devil As Jewish Actor

With his recent addition to the MCU, Sacha Baron Cohen is praising the Ironheart production team for taking his Jewish identity into account.

The 3x Oscar nominee recently recalled that the producers and directors on the Disney+ series wanted to ensure that he was “not insulted” as a Jewish actor being asked to portray Mephisto, a demon character often likened to the devil.

“It was a wonderful meeting when I was offered it,” he explained during a Happy Sad Confused live podcast taping. “It was primarily, I think, an almost entirely Black producing and directing team. And they said, ‘We want to offer you Mephisto, but we are aware of the negative association of Jews historically with the devil, and we want to make sure that you’re not insulted by us offering this.’ It was such an amazingly considerate, empathetic thing to say. And I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m good.’”

Cohen added, “I think for the Jews out there, sometimes we don’t feel seen. We don’t feel like people can empathize with us, that we are suffering too. And so to have this entirely Black producing and directing team be so empathetic, was a moment of being seen. It was an amazing experience.”

Last year, Cohen’s Mephisto was revealed in the Season 1 finale of Ironheart, having offered Parker (Anthony Ramos) his hooded cloak to help him achieve his desires