Fun Facts about Sacha Baron Cohen

Music Gene

Sacha has often performed background vocals for brother Erran’s electronica band, Zöhar. Erran also served as composer on “Borat.”

WWE Fan

Sacha is a big fan of professional wrestling and is good friends with WWE wrestler John Cena.

Isla Popping

Sacha’s partner, Isla Fisher, converted to Judaism. They welcomed their daughter Olive in October 2007.

Ali-G

Cohen introduced the Borat character on “Da Ali-G Show” which originated in Britain.

Prankster

To get guests to appear on his show, Sacha often fooled them by sending letters with HBO’s letterhead.

Dr. Cohen

Sacha considered pursuing a PhD before going into comedy.

Family Origins

Sacha’s mother is from Israel, and his Welsh father owns a menswear shop in Piccadilly.

Class Act

Cohen delivered the 2004 Class Day Address at Harvard University as his alter-ego, Ali G.

The Real Deal

The hair and mustache Cohen uses in his portrayal of Borat are real. It takes him six weeks to grow them.

Kibbitzer

Sacha Baron Cohen was an active member in the Jewish youth movement Habonim Dror.

Real Life Borat

Borat is based on a guy Sacha met in southern Russia.

Bruno

Sacha Baron Cohen is being sued by a California woman who claims she was injured after a stunt involving Cohen’s gay fashionista alter ego, Bruno. (June 2009)

Bleaching Disaster

Sacha suffered serious burns after trying to bleach his body hair while preparing to play Bruno.

Rated R

“Bruno” was given an R rating by the MPAA, after it initially being given the dreaded NC-17.

Extended Title

His new film’s original title was: “Bruno: Delicious Journeys Through America for the Purpose of Making Heterosexual Males Visibly Uncomfortable in the Presence of a Gay Foreigner in a Mesh T-Shirt.”

Flamboyantly Sacha

For “Bruno,” Sacha gatecrashed the TV series “Medium” while disguised as Bruno, and crashed a rally supporting a ban on gay marriage in California.

Runway Crasher

Sacha was arrested by police in Milan after storming a fashion show runway as Brüno.

Lefty

Sacha is left-handed.

Multiple Personalities

Cohen plays the three principal characters on his “Da Ali G Show”; Ali G, Borat and Bruno. He retired Ali G and Borat in 2007.

Dedicated

To prepare for “Brüno,” Cohen shaves all of his hair (including body hair) and works out and cleans his body vigorously.

College Career

In 1993, Cohen had a singing role in "My Fair Lady" while attending Christ’s College at Cambridge. Since he was pursuing a degree in history, he wrote his thesis on Jewish involvement in the American Civil Rights movement.

'Borat' is a Hit!

“Borat” has the third highest per-theatre average of all time for movies opening wide (500 screens or more), behind “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” and “Spider-Man.”

Strictly Kosher

Sacha keeps kosher and observes the Jewish sabbath, refusing to answer the phone on Shabbat.

Ali G's Fans

Madonna contacted Sacha’s wanted his character Ali G in her video for the title track of her album, “Music,” in which she and Ali go toe-to-toe at turntables.

Egging On

The government of Kazakhstan threatened him with legal action after the MTV EMA ceremony in Lisbon. The New York Times reported that Baron Cohen (in character as his Borat persona) actually egged them on, saying, "Sue the Jew!!"