Sacha Baron Cohen: ‘Garry Shandling’s foot saved Borat’

Borat was on track to be a disaster for Sacha Baron Cohen, before it was saved by late comedian Garry Shandling.

Sacha has become synonymous with his many comedic alter egos, including wannabe rapper Ali G and flamboyant Austrian fashionista Bruno. Kazakh journalist Borat is another of his popular characters, though the success of the 2006 movie was thrown into turmoil before shooting even began.

“Originally, Borat was a disaster,” Sacha told Britain’s Esquire magazine. “I was depressed, the original director left and the studio gave us two weeks to replace him, or they'd shut it down.

“So, anyway, I went to Garry Shandling's house — he had this basketball game on Sundays for comedians — and when I went up for a basket, I landed on his foot and rolled my ankle. I tore two ligaments. But because of that, the insurance paid for a three-month hiatus and I managed to call Peter Baynham, who had worked with (Steve) Coogan on (Alan) Partridge, and together we re-wrote the movie. So really, Shandling's foot saved Borat.”

The film, full title Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, went on to gross over $260 million (£211 million) worldwide and even landed an Academy Award nomination for Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay.

However, Sacha believes some of Borat’s triumph was down to the political climate at the time of release.

“Satire becomes easier the more absurd the world gets. Part of the success of Borat was that it was in the middle of the (George W.) Bush government. When there's frustration and anger, satire feels good, it releases some of that energy,” he commented.