That's it for Borat

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Showtime Emmy Eve Party at the San Vicente Bungalows on September 21, 2019 in West Hollywood, CA
Photo: Nicky Nelson/WENN.com

Sacha Baron Cohen has retired his controversial Borat character, because he can't imagine bringing the oddball Kazakh journalist back after two films.

Cohen released Borat Subsequent Moviefilm - his follow-up to the 2006 mockumentary Borat, in October (20) via Amazon Prime Video, and in a new interview with Variety, the Brit has confirmed he can't foresee a further movie for the character.

"I brought Borat out because of (President Donald) 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."

And Cohen admits there were times while he was making the Borat sequel, during which he staged a series of questionable stunts - including dressing up as Trump for a political event - that made him wonder if he was "mad".

"There were moments in making this movie where I thought, 'Why the hell am I doing this?'" he explained. "This is illogical. You think, 'Am I mad? Have I got something deeply wrong with me?'"

Earlier this week (beg04Jan21), Maria Bakalova, who played Borat's daughter Tutar in the sequel, said she felt it was her "duty" to see through a controversial interview scene with Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani, even though it was terribly uncomfortable.

Bakalova posed as a journalist for the interview with the former New York Mayor, and after the chat the pair retreated to a hotel room before Cohen - as Borat - burst in.

"I was afraid because Rudy is a lawyer, and he is the president's lawyer," she told the Los Angeles Times. "I am not an American and don't know about American politics, but I knew that as an actor, it was my duty to do this scene to save the movie. I also knew that I wasn't alone in the room because Sacha was hiding there. I knew that if something happened, I could make my exit."