Ocean City's Pete Wiggins Gets Decked by 'The Dictator'

“The Dictator" opened in local theaters Wednesday, and amid all the usual Sacha Baron Cohen ethnic and cultural mockery, an Ocean City boy gets kicked to the ground by the movie's star.

Pete Wiggins, a 10-year-old fourth-grader at Ocean City Intermediate School, stars in one brief scene with Cohen. In the scene, Wiggins encounters "The Dictator" in a convenience store and ends up on the floor.

• See Wiggins in a trailer for "The Dictator."
• Check local listings for movie times (the movie is rated R).

Wiggins has performed in other acting roles that range from Sesame Street to a Kaiser Permanente commercial. He has even made a guest appearance on “The Ellen Show.”

In June 2011, Wiggin’s agent mentioned the part, and his family took him to audition.

“The lady put her hands out and had me fall on the ground,” Wiggins said. “I was really excited when I got the part. It was fun.”

In June, Wiggins had to train and practice his fall with a stuntman in a room padded with foam. His fall is the crucial part of the scene. Come August, Wiggins got to go to a set up store with foam painted to match the floor to break his fall. The scene was filmed about seven times and made it into the second trailer for the movie.

Over the past few weeks, Wiggins has been known as the “cute kid from ‘The Dictator’ movie” with the trailer on television and in theaters before feature films.

“Sacha Baron Cohen was really nice and cool and nice to work with," Wiggins said. "He is a nice person in general.” 

“The Dictator” is a film by Paramount Pictures that "tells the story of a dictator who risked his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed." The movie also includes actors Ben Kingsley, Anna Faris and John C. Reilly.

Before "The Dictator," Wiggins' most memorable acting part was when he was on “Sesame Street” speaking to the broccoli. Other performances include parts in movies like “Caymen Went” and “Away We Go” and acting in commercials for Hallmark and Kaiser Permanente. His friends have seen the trailer, and his teachers have complimented him on his early career.

“In the future when I hand out my resume, I think people will be ‘Wait you were in a movie?’ " Wiggins said. "I think they will be really impressed.”

Wiggin’s says he likes acting because his family gets to stay in nice hotels and hang out in the pool. When filming “The Dictator,” Wiggins was most excited for the iPad’s that were equipped in the hotel room.

In his free time, Wiggins likes to go to the beach, play piano, sing, read the series Diary of a Wimpy Kid, ride his bike and draw. He is the youngest of four children (William, Andy, Charlie and Pete) to Billy and Julia Wiggins.

“My dream job is to design video games for Nintendo. I really like their games, and I’m into Zelda right now. I think acting is fun because you get to be in movies.”