Baddiel: 'Djalili is perfect for Infidel'

David Baddiel has claimed that Omid Djalili was the perfect person to star in his film The Infidel.

According to The Mirror, the comedian said that he could not think of anyone better suited to star in the movie, which follows a Muslim man who discovers that he was born Jewish.

Baddiel said: "If he'd have dropped out, either I'd have had to have stopped, or I'd have had to do it, because I'm the only other person I can think of who could look both Muslim and Jewish, and halfway through the film that would have been weird - we'd have had to suggest the character had lost a lot of weight or something."

He continued: "The key thing about [Djalili] is that he looks like he could be Muslim or Jewish, and when I saw him I thought, 'Well, what is he?' And he is in fact Baha'i, which is neither, but in fact a religion which encompasses all religions, so perfect from that point of view."

Baddiel also revealed that he had been impressed by Djalili's comedic talent.

"I just thought he was really, really funny," he said. "I just think Omid Djalili is like a funny-boned, naturally funny comedian, of the sort that you get quite rarely, like Eric Morecambe. The ability to just be funny almost by doing nothing."

> Click here for our recent interview with David Baddiel