Baron Cohen 'could never embarrass himself' the way Borat does
Sacha Baron Cohen, whose fictional Kazakh reporter Borat has sparked controversy, said in the US that he could never put himself and others in embarrassing situations if he weren’t in character.
“I think I’d find it hard to,” Cohen said in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine.
“I think you can hide behind the characters and do things that you yourself find difficult.”
The British actor’s spoof documentary, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit of Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, follows his Kazakh TV journalist character on a cross-country trip to report back to his homeland on American culture.
The film has become a runaway hit – generating complaints and lawsuits along the way from Borat’s unwitting subjects who say they were duped into making racist, sexist and anti-Semitic remarks.
The 35-year-old comedian is a devout Jew who keeps kosher and the Sabbath when possible.
“By himself being anti-Semitic, Borat lets people lower their guard and expose their own prejudice, whether it’s anti-Semitism or an acceptance of anti-Semitism,” he told Rolling Stone.
