Dishy Brit actor Dominic Cooper stars as onetime Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s evil son Uday and and his official lookalike, Latif Yahia. in an upcoming film.
The film, The Devil’s Double is a bit of a departure for the actor best known for playing almost comedic roles in films such as Mamma Mia! and Tamara Drewe.
He plays Uday, who lived a debaucherous playboy life and reportedly raped girls for fun, and Uday’s body double Latif Yahia was an Iraqi soldier who was forced to take the role on pain of death of his entire family.
Many people walked out on the ultra violent film when it was debuted at the Berlin film festival recently but the on screen horror captures only a fraction of what murderous Uday was capable of, according to the real life according to Latif who escaped the regime in 1992
“This was 20% of the reality,” Yahia told the Guardian. “I have been 20 years out of Iraq and I still don’t sleep at night.”
“Some people might leave the cinema,” Cooper added “but the fact is this happened, and it underlines the true horror of what that man did.”
“It was not done for shock value. In fact, the stock footage we used of the bombs dropping [during the Gulf war] is worse than most of the gore.”
Uday was killed by US forces in 2003 after Saddam’s regime fell.
The Devil’s Double, directed by Lee Tamahori, is released in UK cinemas on August 12.
