Sacha Baron-Cohen on Borat’s Ethics and Why the Masquerade Days End: NPR

British actor Sacha Baron Cohen is known for creating silly characters and then bringing them into the real world – and interacting with people who have no idea the characters aren’t real.

Almost 20 years ago he created the character Borat Sagdiyev, a faded, anti-Semitic and sexist TV journalist from Kazakhstan. 2006 film Borate Aims to expose American intolerance, xenophobia, and gender discrimination, as scene partners unwilling to the title character reveal their true beliefs.

The film was an international success, which made Porat widely known and quoted from popular culture. Baron Cohen assumed the party was ready: Once the world realizes Porat is not real, there will be no way to interact with the audience as before.

But when Donald Trump was elected president and there was a rise in anti-Semitic rhetoric, racism and xenophobia, Baron Cohen decided to revive his distinct personality.

“I felt very clearly from the beginning [Trump] The administration that we were heading towards authoritarianism. “So I felt I had to do something. I was terrified that if Trump entered again, America would be a democracy in name only,” he says.

at Borat’s next movie, Released on Amazon in October, the character returns to America to offer President Trump a bribe. When it becomes clear that Porat will not meet the President, Porat tries unsuccessfully to give his 15-year-old daughter (played by Maria Bacalova) to Vice President Pence as a gift. Then he decided to give it to Rudy Giuliani, which would now expire Infamous scene In the hotel bedroom.

Baron Cohen gets stalked, nearly caught and sued during the filmmaking process. While filming at the gun rights march for Borate Sequel, Baron Cohen was fearful for his life. It is believed that the time has come to retire from the underground figures.

“At some point, your luck is running out. So I never wanted to do these things again,” he says. “I can not”.

Baron Cohen was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards for his role in the production and starring Borat’s next movie. It was also nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category for the role of Yippie Leader Abbie Hoffman in Netflix Chicago trial 7.

Interview highlights

About his fear for his life while marching for gun rights while filming Borate sequel

I have been wearing a bulletproof vest, and this is only the second time in my career that I have done so. But I was told there was a chance someone would try to shoot me. I was fully aware that once the crowd realized that I was fake it could turn really ugly and it could be really dangerous. …

I remember putting on a flak jacket before the scene, looking in the mirror of a nearby hotel, and … I remember asking the beautician, “Do you think I’m going to shoot today?” He says, “No, no, no, no.” I said, “Well, why do I wear a bulletproof vest then?” And he really didn’t have an answer.

I kept coming back to that feeling. Again, I didn’t want to do Borat again. I never wanted to go undercover again. I felt I had to do whatever I could to remind people, in 90 minutes, in a humorous way, of what Trump had done for the previous four years, and I felt like I had to try to infiltrate his inner circle, which is what we did with Rudy Giuliani and Mike Pence. We felt we had to do this. I felt the need to make this film before the elections. But, yeah, I might be crazy.

Whether he thinks there is an ethical gray area for bringing characters into the world and fooling people

These are the discussions we constantly have in the book room: Is this ethical? What is the purpose of this scene? Is it just to be funny? Is there some irony? Is this satire worth it? When you do things like march a gun and you may be shot, this is morally clear. Or if you are undermining one of Trump’s inner circle, whose sole aim is to undermine the legitimacy of the election, that’s ethical. I mean, look at what Ruddy posted Borate Out. He spread this big lie that Trump had won the election. And this lie is so dangerous and misleading that it led to the attack on the Capitol – and it’s not over yet.

So the morals of seeing how Rudy would react when he was alone in a room with an attractive young woman, I think the morals are pretty straightforward. I think it was evidence of the misogyny that the president boasted of and served as a badge of honor with his inner circle. What we did with Ruddy was crucial. I mean, we made the movie to have an impact on elections. So morally, I can stand by that all day.

Is the movie as a whole moral? Yeah. We did this because there is an unethical government in power. And there was no question. … we had to do what we could to inspire people to vote and remind people of the immorality of the government before the elections. … I have no doubt about the morals of this movie. I’m so proud of that.

Not to be seen in public in order to preserve the identity of his characters for many years

I never wanted to do any interviews like me. And I had an amazing time in England where Ali G, who is the first type of character that I did, was a phenomenon in England. Ali C, the character, was huge. She was incredibly famous. … but, Sasha, I was an unknown, and it was cool. I was able to go to the tube. I was able to get all the benefits of being famous and not being famous. So I wanted to keep it going, and it has also helped me with my work. I realized that if I got famous by myself, it would make my work nearly impossible. …

I wish I could continue like this and not become as famous as me. There are great benefits to fame where you can talk to people who are [you] He shouldn’t be able to talk to him. People will take your call. … Some people like to be recognized and love attention. I do not like him. I loved the period when the shows were really successful but no one knew who I was.

I remember one time, the first time we shot a video on J – and it was a video in those days – and I stood in this record store called HMV on Oxford Street, and it was the biggest store in London, and I was surrounded by my G fans who were buying VHS, and I was wearing Borat uniforms. And they were like, “Get out of the way! Get out! You stink!” And I had the pleasure of not knowing who I was. And then, you know, being on the Underground, the London Underground, listening to people talking about Ali G or making impressions on J and not realizing that they were next to the guy who did. For me, that was the most enjoyable period.

About what he has captured about Yippie leader Abby Hoffman, who he plays Chicago trial 7

He was well aware of the stage and the cameras, that he was creating a character and making moves in order to motivate the youth. So he knew he could use humor, first, to challenge systemic and institutional racism. But he also knew that if he was funny and cool, which he was, he would be able to convince some young men to sacrifice their lives to fight against the Vietnam War. He was moved by the idea of ​​entering the theater onto the streets, and he was very thoughtful. So he would go on tours during the trial. They felt very disoriented; However, they were very prepared. He studied Lenny Bruce – he studied the rhythms and also learned some other lessons from Lenny Bruce, including that the trial was a mock trial and that they would be indicted. …

He was aware that they had no money – the Yippies had no money … [and] That he could make an impact that was by being funny, by doing these seemingly crazy things, like getting thousands of students to try to raise the level of the Pentagon or nominate a pig to run for leader of the Democratic Party. The more I read about it, I saw some similarities [between us] … To some extent.

On his audition for playing Abby Hoffman (when Steven Spielberg was linked directly)

I heard there was going to be a movie about Chicago 7. I was kind of obsessed with Abby Hoffman since I was 20, and with great rudeness I called Steven Spielberg and said, “Can you let me audition?” And he had some reservations, especially with regard to the dialect, because he knew it was a very specific accent. And an accent coach sent me, and … every night we’d record three copies of his speech. Two weeks later, Spielberg said, “Well, I need a copy of this letter that pleases you. Hand it home at 9 am,” so I recorded about 30 copies. Tone coach said [to use] Take 28, and I asked my assistant – I said, “Put Take 28 on a CD. Hand it over to Mr. Spielberg’s house.”

I met Stephen … and he sat with me saying, “Listen, Sasha, I have to be honest. I got the CD. Thank you. The first ten or so encounters weren’t good at all.” And I realized my assistant had given the wrong CD. He listened to all 28. He said, “In the end, Sasha, it was perfect.” Incidentally, this is why Spielberg is Spielberg and why so many of these people are who they are. They have incredible talent, but they sit on Take 28 when they should shut down after Take 4.

Lauren Krensl and Tia Chaloner produced and edited this interview for broadcast. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper, and Beth Novey have adapted it for the web.