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Borat, Ali G: Rest in Peace

Fri., Dec. 21, 2007 1:28 PM PST by Gina Serpe

Just in time for the holidays, Sacha Baron Cohen is giving fans a big bah, humbug.

The British comic genius has broken the news to the sexy time- and booyakasha-parroting legions that Borat Sagdiyev and Ali G have enraged their last dignitaries: He has officially retired the characters.

Cohen says he's deep-sixing his creations because their overwhelming success has become a creative liability.

"It is like saying goodbye to a loved one," Cohen told the Daily Telegraph, in what appeared to be a straight-faced interview (although one never knows with Cohen). "It is hard, and the problem with success, although it's fantastic, is that every new person who sees the Borat movie is one less person I 'get' with Borat again, so it's a kind of self-defeating form, really.

"It's upsetting, but the success has been great and better than anything I could have dreamed of."

Cohen went so far as to spend the better part of two years in character while making and promoting last year's blockbuster Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. Appearing at public events as the anti-Semitic, homophobic, misogynistic (yet somehow hilarious) reporter.

"It's much easier for me to be in character, and it's a lot more fun. If I'd done the entire promotional campaign for Borat as myself, it wouldn't have developed in the same way. I think it can get a little bit tiresome if you're having to be the real person and talking about how important and interesting the role was. To me, it should be entertaining and the entertainment should carry on.

"When I was being Ali G and Borat I was in character sometimes 14 hours a day, and I came to love them, so admitting I am never going to play them again is quite a sad thing," he continued.

Both alter egos were first introduced on Da Ali G Show, which aired in the U.S. on HBO. The series featured three different personalities. The titular wannabe rapper-reporter was the star, with Borat contributing field reports along with Bruno, Cohen's campy, Austrian fashion reporter, who is going to be the subject of Cohen's next big-screen oeuvre.

Ali G even delivered the commencement address to the Harvard University graduating class of 2004 (Cohen himself went to Cambridge).

Before making Borat, Cohen's film debut was in Ali G Indahouse, a film that didn't quite make it onto U.S. filmgoers' radar. Considering the negative fallout from Borat, though, that might not have been a bad thing.

"Since last year I've been sued by about 3,000 people," he said. "Some of the letters I get are quite unusual, like the one where the lawyer informed me I'm to be sued for $100,000 and at the end says, 'P.S. Loved the movie. Can you sign a poster for my son Jeremy?' "

Lawsuits aside, the film paid off handsomely for Cohen, who received the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy and led to a role opposite Johnny Depp in the forthcoming musical Sweeney Todd.

It also led to a big-bucks deal with Universal for a Bruno movie. The studio reportedly anted up more than $40 million to win a bidding war. Cameras started rolling over the summer.

"It would probably hurt the film if I started talking about it," he said, "so I prefer to comment once I've got a finished film."

In character, no doubt.