The well-worth-the-wait sequel to the 2006 classic Borat hit Amazon Prime on Friday. And while its release was notably preceded with the reveal of a scene in which Rudy Giuliani dubiously swears he was only lying down on a hotel room bed to tuck in his shirt, there's plenty more from the Maria Bakalova-featuring instaclassic worth a behind-the-scenes dissection.
Sacha Baron Cohen provided a bit of that during his extended appearance on Stephen Colbert's Late Show on Monday, as well as reflected on a hilarious moment from his Ali G years which has received renewed attention in the wake of Borat 2.
Trump himself recently referenced the interview while inaccurately conflating the characters of Borat and Ali G. And while Trump attempted to use this as an example of him being impenetrable to such comedic methods, Cohen explained that—as seen in the clip above—Trump indeed believed the 2003 interview was real.
"Well, I'm sure when he was hanging out with his good friend Jeffrey Epstein they probably spent a lot of their time talking about how creepy I am," Cohen said, referencing Trump referring to him last week as a creep. "And yes, I am a professional phony like him. And I interviewed the president many years ago."
Reflecting on the resulting one-on-one, Cohen said Trump became visibly angry when he realized the "well-spoken Englishman in a nice tweet jacket" was not the one who would be interviewing him.
"I remember Donald Trump looking at me and I'm wearing a sweatsuit…and his face dropped," Cohen said. "He was immediately furious that he was going to have to speak to somebody from a lower class borough rather than this rather astute [producer]."
And as for Trump's assertion that he was the only person who ever saw through the set-up, Cohen explained that Trump "didn't see through the interview" and instead answered "all the questions" in a "completely normal" fashion.
"He completely believed that Ali G was real," Cohen said.
Cohen also discussed shooting the Country Steve sequence from Borat 2. According to Cohen, he was ultimately recognized by Black Lives Matter protesters who were in attendance at the gun rally in an undercover capacity due to previous threats from attendees. In a brief clip that hasn't previously been released, Cohen can be seen being rushed from the stage after far-right militia members attempt to storm it.
"This was the first movie where I had to wear a bulletproof vest," he said.
Elsewhere, Cohen talked about the casting of Maria Bakalova, the Giuliani hotel room scene, his part in Aaron Sorkin's recently released Netflix drama The Trial of the Chicago 7, and more. On Giuliani's response to the scene's release, Cohen offered:
"He said that he did nothing inappropriate. My feeling is, if he sees that as appropriate, then heaven knows what he's intended to do with other women in hotel rooms with a glass of whiskey in his hands. I don’t want to ruin the movie for anyone. So, I would just say see it and make your own mind up."
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Borat 2, directed by Jason Woliner, is out now. As Amazon reported on Tuesday, the comedy bagged some serious numbers during its opening weekend, with current estimates from the streaming platform showing that tens of millions of customers gave it a watch. And within the first few hours of a watch party last Thursday, more than a million people tuned in to interact with Borat and take part in a dance party.
