Sacha Baron Cohen will take on a key role in Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained

According to Variety, Sacha Baron Cohen (THE DICTATOR, HUGO) is in final negotiations to join Quentin Tarantino’s eagerly awaited anti-slavery film. Cohen would play ‘Scotty’, “a gambler who buys Django’s wife as a female companion.” You might remember from just last week that that part was originally offered to Jonah Hill, which is such a weird, interesting, and probably better change-up after all is said and done. The part is said to be a small but very important one in the film.

The project recently added actors Rex Linn, James Remar, Tom Wopat, Todd Allen, and James Russo to an already HUGE cast that includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington, Christoph Waltz, Kurt Russell, Samuel L. Jackson, RZA, and Don Johnson.

DJANGO UNCHAINED is set for release on Christmas Day 2012.