Sacha Baron Cohen and His ‘Sweeney Todd’ Crotch Bulge

While watching Tim Burton’s new film of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, you just may spend a little time marveling at that impressively sized package straining the seams of Signor Adolfo Pirelli’s trousers. “Whose idea was that?” you might wonder for as long as one one-thousandth of a second, before you realize, oh yeah, it was Sacha Baron Cohen’s idea.

“We augmented,” costume designer Colleen Atwood tells E!, adding that the “little quilted thing” was stuffed into Cohen’s britches at the Borat actor’s suggestion. “We tried different materials and different sizes and positions. You kind of forget what you’re doing, and you’re just sort of looking at what looks the best. I like if a lot of people think it’s real.” Aside from guaranteeing Atwood a Best Costume Design Oscar, it’s hard to say what the bulge accomplishes other than, we guess, making Pirelli even more ridiculous than usual. Nevertheless, we are grateful to Cohen for bringing back the Season of the Wang. And we guess if you compare him to Ian McKellen and Viggo Mortensen, for the first time ever Cohen looks like he’s exhibited positive self-restraint.

Sacha Baron Cohen’s Big Bulge Surprise [E!]