Comedian J.B. Smoove has joined the cast of Sasha Baron Cohen's upcoming film, "The Dictator," TheWrap has confirmed.
The "Saturday Night Live" veteran who plays Leon Black on "Curb Your Enthusiasm" will play the character "Usher" in the Paramount project. (Distributor Paramount didn't release any details about Smoove's character, other than the name).
According to a Paramount release, "The film tells the heroic story of a dictator who risked his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed. It is inspired by the best selling novel 'Zabibah and The King' by Saddam Hussein."
"Zabibah," a love story between a medieval monarch and the married and long-suffering Zabibah was published anonymously in 2000.
There's plenty of "Curb" overlap with "The Dictator."
Director Larry Charles, who previously oversaw Cohen's "Borat" and "Bruno," frequently directs Larry David's "Curb," and "Dictator" screenwriters and producers David Mandel, Alec Berg and Jeff Schaffer executive produced 20 episodes of the HBO comedy and were co-producers on 10 others.
In addition to Cohen, Mandel, Berg and Schaffer, Scott Rudin is producing.
"The Dictator" is slated for a May 11, 2012 release.
