Sacha Baron Cohen is putting Borat to bed

We can’t imagine what the cultural landscape would have looked like over the past 15 years if the 2006 mega-hit mockumentary Borat (full title Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan) had never hit the silver screen. The Kazakhstani face that launched a thousand “wa-wa-wee-wa’s” (and shone a light onto the racism, sexism, and queerphobia inherent in society) spawned a sequel, last year’s Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. But it looks like there will be no Borat 3, as Sacha Baron Cohen has confirmed he’s putting his most iconic character to bed.

“It got too dangerous," Sacha said. "There were a couple of times I had to put on a bulletproof vest to go and shoot a scene, and you don't want to do that too many times in your life.”

“I was pretty lucky to get out this time, so no, I'm not doing it again. I'm going to stay with the scripted stuff," he added.

The Borat franchise was infamous for inserting the fake Kazakh journalist into fringe and polarizing situations. The sequel saw him attending a far-right American rally during the lead up to the 2020 US election. It also famously put co-star Maria Bakalova in close, compromising quarters with Trump advocate Rudy Giuliani where the former New York City mayor put his hands down his pants. All of this, Sacha says, is why he no longer feels safe putting himself or his crew through another sequel.

“The night before something like that — that rally — you're trying to go through everything that can go wrong," he explained. "In a normal scene like what we're doing, we're trying to make sure, 'How do I make sure my performance is real? Have I done my research? How do I make sure the accent's perfect?' In this one you're going, 'Okay, if a bunch of guys with guns come from that side of the stage, have I got a way to get out? What happens if someone shoots me? What if a bunch of people start shooting me?' "

In addition to being fitted with a bulletproof vest for the rally scene, Sacha says the crew had to build "an amplifier that was basically bomb-proof" for him to hide behind should things get out of hand or his life was put in peril.

"Yeah, I don't want to do it again. I got away with it. I'm not pushing my luck again."

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Earlier this year, Sacha told Variety that he felt compelled to bring Borat back after such a long hiatus because, “I felt democracy was in peril, I felt people's lives were in peril and I felt compelled to finish the movie.”

This isn’t the first time Sacha has expressed just how concerning and dangerous filming became, especially during the sequel. During the press tour for the film, he expressed just how worried he was for co-star Bakalova’s security, especially during the infamous scene with Rudy Giuliani.

“I was quite concerned for her during the scene. We built a hideaway that I was hiding in during the entire scene so I was monitoring it by text but you know it's my responsibility as a producer as well to ensure that the lead actor is looked after.”

After Giuliani pushed back against any allegation of impropriety, Sacha was not having it. “If the president’s lawyer found what he did there appropriate behaviour, then heaven knows what he’s done with other female journalists in hotel rooms. And listen, I just urge everyone to watch the movie. It is what it is. He did what he did. Make your own mind up. It was pretty clear to us.”

Bakalova, who played Borat’s teenage daughter Tutar, also thanked him for saving her in that situation. “I wanna thank you. I was sure that you're gonna save me from everything.”

But don’t put away those Pamela-Anderson-cross-country dreams just yet. Back in 2007, Sacha also claimed that Borat was dead, and that he’d never play the journalist again. “When I was being Ali G and Borat I was in character sometimes 14 hours a day and I came to love them, so admitting I am never going to play them again is quite a sad thing,” he said at the time.

So who knows? Maybe in another 14 years, when democracy is in peril, Borat Sagdiyev will once again don a moustache and banana hammock mankini to the rescue.

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