One of the biggest film surprises of 2020 has to be the release of “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.” After more than a decade away from the public eye, Borat returned (that is to say, actor-writer Sacha Baron Cohen brought his character out of retirement) and attempted to sway people away from voting for Trump. And according to Baron Cohen, that’s the only reason he decided to make the film.
Speaking to Variety, Sacha Baron Cohen detailed the behind-the-scenes discussions about how “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” became a reality and how it spawned from the development of another undercover comedy film. Apparently, the comedy was only developed, filmed, and released so that he could impact this past November’s election. But it wasn’t such an easy decision for Baron Cohen to go back to one of his classic characters.
READ MORE: ‘Borat 2’: Wa Wa Wee Wa, ‘Subsequent Moviefilm’ Is Very Niiice… Not! [Review]
“After ‘Bruno,’ I was fairly traumatized,” said Baron Cohen. “For about six months afterwards whenever I heard a police siren, I would start to get tense, because I’d been chased by the police so much. I vowed never to make another undercover movie again.”
Of course, that didn’t last. While it did take some years, the actor did go back to the makeup room and become various characters for a new undercover comedy series, “Who Is America?” which was released on Showtime in 2018. That series was a runaway hit for Baron Cohen, with people clearly aching for more of his gotcha-style hijinks. “Who Is America?” was such a hit, Baron Cohen began developing a mockumentary film that would expand on the Israeli anti-terrorism expert character, Erran Morad.
But that film was ultimately abandoned when Baron Cohen brought back Borat for a skit on “Jimmy Kimmel Live.” The actor was shocked at how many people he talked to as Borat still didn’t know the character was fake. So, when the Presidential Election started ramping up, Baron Cohen scrapped Erran Morad’s movie in favor of bringing back his most beloved creation.
“I felt democracy was in peril, I felt people’s lives were in peril and I felt compelled to finish the movie,” said. “The movie was originally about the danger of Trump and Trumpism. What coronavirus demonstrated was that there’s a lethal effect to his spreading of lies and conspiracy theories.”
And thus, “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” was rushed through production. Why? Well, it was important that Baron Cohen release his film well before the election.
“I don’t want to egotistically imply that people would watch ‘Borat’ and not vote for Trump, but that was the aim,” said Baron Cohen. He also said that it was important to not wait for theaters to reopen because his goal “was how do we get as many people as possible to watch this before Nov. 3?”
So, now that Borat is back out in the public eye, will fans see more of the character? It doesn’t appear so. According to the actor, Borat is going back into retirement, with a job well done.
“I brought Borat out because of Trump,” he said. “There was a purpose to this movie, and I don’t really see the purpose to doing it again. So yeah, he’s locked away in the cupboard.”
However, if you want to remember the joy of Borat, you can watch “Borat” and ‘Subsequent Moviefilm,’ both of which are streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
