After making his name playing comic characters Ali G and Borat, the transition to “straight” acting may have appeared a taxing proposition for Sacha Baron Cohen.
But in many ways, the years he spent tricking unsuspecting interviewees in these guises was perfect preparation for Eli Cohen, the Mossad spy who spent years undercover infiltrating the Syrian government.
The Spy, a six-part miniseries written and directed by Gideon Raff, was released on Netflix on Friday to generally favourable reviews.
The drama follows Cohen’s missions in Syria during the 1960s, which required him to pose as Kamel Amin Thaabeth, an Argentina-based Arab businessman with a longing to return to his ancestral homeland.
As he rose within the government – eventually becoming the deputy defence secretary – the spy secretly sent reams of military secrets back to Israel, some of which have been credited with helping to win the Six-Day War.
The twin focus is Cohen’s difficulties in keeping his secret identity from his family, while issues relating to Sephardi standing in early Israeli society are also explored.
According to the show’s synopsis, his character “wants nothing more than to be of service to his country, but he does his job so well that he finds it hard to strip off his double identity.”
