Sacha Baron Cohen reveals gruelling Borat 2 stunt: “I lived in character for five days in lockdown house”
The surprise follow up film hits Amazon Prime Video later this month.
Sacha Baron Cohen fans were delighted when they learned he was reprising his iconic role as Borat for a brand new movie, Borat 2 – and it sounds like the actor hasn't held back for the surprise follow-up.
The comedian has told of some of the extreme lengths he went to for the project, explaining how at one point he had to stay in character – with no breaks – for five days on the trot.
"The hardest thing I had to do was, I lived in character for five days in this lockdown house," he told The New York Times. "I was waking up, having breakfast, lunch, dinner, going to sleep as Borat when I lived in a house with these two conspiracy theorists. You can’t have a moment out of character.”
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Borat – or to give it its full name Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan – was a huge success when it was released in 2006, winning acclaim from fans and critics.
The film saw Baron Cohen interview unsuspecting Americans while in character as the Kazakh television personality, often exposing the ignorance of those he spoke to.
The new film will see him return to America with his young daughter and includes appearances from the likes of US Vice President Mike Pence and Donald Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani.
And, according to the star, another challenge was presented by a scene in which he sneaked into Pence's speech at a Conservative Political Action Conference, dressed as Trump and bringing his daughter as a gift for the Vice President.
“Obviously, I’m wearing a fat suit," he said. "How do I get in and how do I get out?"
He said that security was there to check everyone’s bodies going through, and added, "Bear in mind, I spent five hours in makeup that morning with the prosthetic team changing my face into Trump’s face. This fat suit is huge. It’s a 56-inch fat suit to turn my waist into Trump’s because we had estimated that was the most realistic.
"I ended up hiding in the bathroom, listening to conservative men go to the toilet for five hours until I broke into the room. We were surrounded by Secret Service and police and internal security.”
The film will be available on Amazon Prime Video later this month, having been shot discreetly and quickly in the US following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.
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Authors
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
