Movies / Comedy / The Dictator
The Dictator(2012): Cast, characters & where to watch
U.S. availability, checked October 8, 2026
The Dictator (2012) is an American political satire directed by Larry Charles, starring Sacha Baron Cohen as Admiral General Aladeen, the absurd ruler of the fictional Republic of Wadiya, with Anna Faris and Ben Kingsley. Baron Cohen wrote it with Alec Berg, David Mandel, and Jeff Schaffer, and Paramount Pictures released it on May 16, 2012. Unlike Borat and Brüno, it’s a fully scripted comedy rather than a hidden-camera mockumentary.
The Dictator Cast
Ages are at the U.S. release on May 16, 2012.
Supporting cast
- Mr. Lao, oil executiveBobby Lee
- Mr. Ogden, hotel managerChris Elliott
- Waiter, Death to Aladeen restaurantFred Armisen
- SladeKevin Corrigan
- News anchorChris Parnell
- DeniseJessica St. Clair
- DoctorAasif Mandvi
- Head nuclear scientistFred Melamed
- Pregnant womanKathryn Hahn
- Funeral usherJ.B. Smoove
- Aide on balconyHoratio Sanz
- Health inspector (uncredited)Garry Shandling
- Himself (uncredited)Edward Norton
Kevin Corrigan and Bobby Lee also appear in Pineapple Express (2008).
Sacha Baron Cohen as Admiral General Aladeen (and Efawadh)
Aladeen is Wadiya’s vain, childish supreme leader, and Baron Cohen also plays Efawadh, the dim-witted shepherd brought in as his body double. Baron Cohen said he based the performance primarily on Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi (The Independent). Producers Jeff Schaffer and David Mandel cited other real dictators with personality cults, including Kim Jong Il and Idi Amin, as inspiration.
Anna Faris as Zoey
Zoey is a human rights activist who runs a struggling progressive co-op health food store and hires the beardless Aladeen without knowing who he is. Variety reported that Kristen Wiig and Gillian Jacobs were considered for the part, which it said “calls for strong improvisational skills” (Variety).
Light spoilers: Aladeen falls for Zoey and starts running her store like a tiny dictatorship, with strict schedules and an intimidated health inspector, before telling her who he really is.
Ben Kingsley as Tamir
Tamir is Aladeen’s uncle, passed over for the throne, who plots to swap in a double and sign Wadiya’s oil fields over to foreign interests. Kingsley joined the cast in April 2011 (Variety).
Jason Mantzoukas as Nadal
Nadal is Wadiya’s former nuclear chief, whom Aladeen believes he had executed over an argument about missile design. Their scenes together, starting with the “pointy” missile debate, are among the film’s most quoted.
Light spoilers: Nadal turns up alive in New York’s “Little Wadiya” and reveals that Aladeen’s execution orders were never carried out; the condemned were quietly exiled to the United States.
John C. Reilly as Clayton
Reilly is uncredited as Clayton, the bodyguard Tamir hires to kidnap Aladeen soon after he lands in New York.
The oil executives
Tamir’s plan to open Wadiya’s oil fields brings in a row of foreign executives: Mr. Lao (Bobby Lee; Wikipedia identifies him as a PetroChina executive), a Gazprom executive (Olek Krupa), and a BP executive (Alan Cox), all credited on IMDb.
Plot overview
Light spoilers. Aladeen flies to the United Nations in New York to address the Security Council, which is threatening military intervention, but he is kidnapped and shaved, and his uncle Tamir puts a body double in his place to sign a document democratizing Wadiya and opening up its oil fields. Unrecognizable without his beard, Aladeen takes a job at Zoey’s co-op under the name “Allison Burgers” and teams up with Nadal to get back into the hotel before the signing. Watch the film for how that plays out; the fun is in the set pieces and Baron Cohen’s riffs, not a beat-by-beat recap.
Is it worth watching?
If you liked Baron Cohen’s earlier films and can handle humor built to offend, yes. It’s shorter and more conventional than Borat (83 minutes, no real-world pranks), and the Aladeen–Nadal scenes and the closing speech about dictatorship land hardest. Critics were split: Rotten Tomatoes’ consensus calls it “wildly uneven but consistently provocative,” while Roger Ebert gave it three stars out of four. Some critics also took issue with its Arab and Muslim stereotypes, so go in knowing what kind of comedy it is.
Who it’s for
- Fans of Borat and Brüno
- Political satire that goes for broad slapstick
- A quick, quotable comedy night
Skip it if
- Crude sexual and ethnic humor is a deal-breaker
- You want Baron Cohen’s hidden-camera style
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Quotes & memorable lines
“Round is not scary. Pointy is scary.”
Admiral General Aladeen (Sacha Baron Cohen), on missile design
“Supreme Leader, I think perhaps some of your information about bombs is coming from cartoons.”
Nadal (Jason Mantzoukas)
“Indulge me. For one second, pretend that I’m an idiot.” “Okay, I’m there.”
Aladeen and Nadal
“Why are you guys so anti-dictators? Imagine if America was a dictatorship.”
Aladeen, opening his speech about dictatorship
Lines as transcribed on Wikiquote.
Opening scene
The film opens with a mock dedication “in loving memory” of North Korea’s Kim Jong Il, who had died in December 2011. The opening stretch then sets up how Aladeen inherited Wadiya from his father, Omar (Sayed Badreya), and what he has done with it since: female bodyguards, a dictionary with many words replaced by “Aladeen,” and a nuclear program aimed at Israel. That setup leads to the U.N. Security Council threatening to intervene and Aladeen’s trip to New York.
Setting & filming locations
The story moves between fictional Wadiya and New York City. Location shooting took place in Spain and in New York, where filming ran June to August 2011 (The New York Times). Morocco had been considered as a location (Variety). Baron Cohen said the United Nations refused to let him shoot inside its headquarters (RFE/RL).
Aladeen’s palace
Plaza de España, Seville, Spain, used for the palace exteriors. Cited by IMDb and Wikipedia.
Wadiya’s desert
Corralejo, Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, used for desert exteriors. Cited by IMDb; the Fuerteventura shoot was reported by Canarias7.
The United Nations scenes
A soundstage at Grumman Studios in Bethpage, New York (Newsday).
Zoey’s store
7 West 30th Street, Manhattan, listed as the health food store location by IMDb.
The Dictator FAQ
Is The Dictator on Netflix?
Not right now. As of October 8, 2026, JustWatch’s U.S. listing shows subscription streaming on Paramount+ and MGM+, not Netflix. Catalogs change, so double-check before you subscribe.
Is The Dictator free anywhere?
Yes, with a library card: as of October 8, 2026, JustWatch lists it free on Hoopla through the end of October 2026 for participating U.S. libraries. Otherwise it’s on Paramount+ and MGM+, or rent and buy digitally.
Where can I watch or stream The Dictator?
See Where to watch: stream on Paramount+ or MGM+; rent or buy on Amazon Video, Apple TV, and Fandango At Home (U.S., as of October 8, 2026).
Who is in The Dictator cast?
Sacha Baron Cohen plays Admiral General Aladeen and his double Efawadh, with Anna Faris (Zoey), Ben Kingsley (Tamir), Jason Mantzoukas (Nadal), John C. Reilly (Clayton, uncredited), Sayed Badreya, Adeel Akhtar, Bobby Lee (Mr. Lao), Chris Elliott, Fred Armisen, Kevin Corrigan, Chris Parnell, and cameos from Megan Fox and Edward Norton as themselves. See The Dictator Cast above and IMDb for the full list.
What is The Dictator about?
A 2012 political satire about Admiral General Aladeen, ruler of the fictional Republic of Wadiya, who is kidnapped and replaced by a body double during a trip to the United Nations in New York, then has to survive the city as an ordinary man. See Plot overview.
What year did The Dictator come out?
2012. The U.S. release date is May 16, 2012 (Box Office Mojo).
Who directed The Dictator?
Larry Charles, who also directed Baron Cohen in Borat and Brüno. The screenplay is by Sacha Baron Cohen, Alec Berg, David Mandel, and Jeff Schaffer.
How long is The Dictator?
83 minutes for the R-rated theatrical cut. The unrated home-video cut runs about 15 minutes longer.
Is Wadiya a real country?
No. The Republic of Wadiya is fictional, placed in the Horn of Africa. The “Wadiyan” Aladeen speaks on screen is actually Hebrew.
Where was The Dictator filmed?
In Spain and New York. The Plaza de España in Seville stands in for Aladeen’s palace, desert scenes were shot on Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands, and the New York shoot ran June to August 2011. See Filming locations.
Was The Dictator banned anywhere?
Yes, in parts of Central Asia. Authorities in Tajikistan blocked it as incompatible with the nation’s “mentality,” it was cut to 71 minutes by censors in Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan pulled it two weeks after its premiere (reported by The Guardian and others).
Sources: IMDb, IMDb full cast, Wikipedia, JustWatch, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic, Box Office Mojo, The Hollywood Reporter (CinemaScore), Paramount Pictures, Paramount home-video release (PR Newswire), Variety, The Independent, The New York Times, Newsday, Canarias7, RFE/RL, The Guardian, Wikiquote, IMDb filming locations.
Editorial guide to movies and TV. Spoilers appear where marked. Watch the original film for full context.
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