Sacha Baron Cohen is going to pass on new cultural learnings with the help of Netflix.
The comedy great and the streaming giant are joining forces with writer Gideon Raff — who created the Israeli political thriller that Homeland is based on — for an episodic series called The Spy.
According to Deadline, The Spy will dramatise the real-life exploits of undercover Israeli intelligence agent Eli Cohen, who infiltrated the highest ranks of Syrian society before being caught and executed.
Since his death, Eli Cohen has become a folk hero of sorts for many Israelis because of his deftness at manoeuvring through the unstable political atmosphere at the height of tensions between Syria and Israel in the '60s.
The Spy will stream worldwide on Netflix in all territories worldwide except for France, where it will be airing on OCS.
This will be Sacha Baron Cohen's first recurring TV role since he wrapped the US version of Da Ali G Show all the way back in 2004.
Cohen got his start and developed comedy persona Ali G as a cast member on Channel 4's The 11 O'Clock Show in the late '90s, before spinning off Ali G, Borat and Bruno into his own show in 2000.
(Cohen as Bruno)
He's since gone on to become a huge star in Hollywood, having racked up memorable film roles in The Dictator, Les Misérables, Hugo and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, to name only a few.
He was most recently was attached to star in the long-awaited Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, but dropped out amid creative conflicts with the surviving members of Queen.
Netflix hasn't yet announced a premiere date for The Spy.
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