Sacha Baron Cohen InterviewShow Video Details ↓ Dave Letterman: Thank you very much, Bob. Bob: My Pleasure. Dave Letterman: Our next guest stars as the title character on HBO's da Ali G show and you'll want to watch that one hard as well. [laughter] It's in its second season and it premiers on Sunday. Ladies and gentlemen, here's Ali G himself, Sacha Baron Cohen. [music] … … Thank you so much for being here and I guess I first knew about your show when it was done in England, for a while right? And then now it's being done in the United States and I'm going to show the folks some pictures by way of helping to describe what you do there. This is the character Ali G, is that correct? Sacha Baron Cohen: That is correct, that is my... Dave Letterman: And how would you describe him to the folks? Sacha Baron Cohen: He is... He is a kind of want to-be hip-hop gangster who in fact lives in a suburban part of England. Dave Letterman: And he goes out and talks to people, interacts with people? Sacha Baron Cohen: Ya, basically the idea is that he interviews probably the cleverest people in the world and asks the most stupid questions so, you know, I'd interview, in the guise of him, Buzz Aldrin and say "so what was it like actually walking on the sun?" [laughter] And then he'll say "no, no, no. Actually it was on the moon. I walked on the moon." And I go "alright was you ever jealous of Louis Armstrong when he was there, him going out first?" [laughter] Dave Letterman: And the more you do this, do you have more and more trouble getting people to submit to these interviews? Sacha Baron Cohen: It can be difficult. I mean I did an interview actually at the JPL, the Jet Propulsion Lab, which is part of NASA and they never really give interviews and I sat down there and I started an interview and then, actually, the press officer came in and she stopped the interview and she was holding a laptop with a massive photo of me as Ali G with the beard and with the glasses and exactly the same hat. And she said "is this you?" And I looked at her and I looked at the picture and it was literally exactly the same, the same beard, same glasses, everything. I said "listen, I've got to be honest. It's not me." [laughter] I go "I'm very angry with that man. I am very angry with that man. My lawyers are suing him. You know? Him is making mockery of me." And she said alright you need to get in touch with the people from the HBO website and tell them to take this down because it's really bad for your career. Dave Letterman: This character is who? Sacha Baron Cohen: That is Borat. He is a... That's not a very flattering photo of him. He is a very ugly man and that is a real mustache. He is from Kazakhstan and he's a Kazakhstani journalist and people who meet him assume that he is Kazakhstani and he's totally naive and I grow that mustache myself. It takes a month and a half and, for all those people who claim they're method actors and they're putting on 40 pounds for a roll that's hard, allow them to walk around there with a massive mustache and then try to pick up women, you know? Dave Letterman: Is this the gentleman the fellow who sang his native national anthem at a sports function in the southern part of the United States? Sacha Baron Cohen: That's the one. Dave Letterman: And what was it, a ball game? Sacha Baron Cohen: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Dave Letterman: Now what happened? You did not sing the national anthem, our star spangled banner, you sang your own national anthem right? Sacha Baron Cohen: Yeah, that's right. Dave Letterman: And it went on and on and on. Sacha Baron Cohen: Yeah it went on for about 10 minutes. [laughter] And they were trying to stop me. But I kept it going. It felt like the end of the song and then I'd wait a bit and start up a second verse. [laughter] Dave Letterman: Alright. And this is the third of the characters on the show. Sacha Baron Cohen: Alright that is Bruno. People who meet him assume that he is an Austrian kind of fashion reporter from kind of an Austrian MTV station and he's very camp. He's ambiguous sexually. [laughter] And if he was here he'd be saying "you know Dave you're great. While you're looking at me and talking at me you're [foreign] [foreign]." That kind of thing, you know? Dave Letterman: Now you moved from England and you live in California is that right? Sacha Baron Cohen: I don't actually live there but I've sort of been there a little bit. Dave Letterman: Spending a lot of time there with the show and so forth? Sacha Baron Cohen: Yeah, that's right. Dave Letterman: And how was that going? Is that kind of an easy mix for you? Sacha Baron Cohen: I mean I find accidentally that I keep on making a lot of faux-pas when I meet famous people which is, you know, a problem really because it's ruining me in Hollywood. Dave Letterman: I'm sorry to hear that. What kind of things? Sacha Baron Cohen: Well like I met Jim Carey at a party and we were chatting and I said "so have you got a girlfriend at the moment?" and he said "no, actually I'm single" and then this quite attractive young girl walks past and I say "what about her?" and she turns to Jim Carey and says "Dad I'm just going to be over there for a couple of minutes." [laughter] Dave Letterman: There you go. Thank you so much. [laughter] When we come back we'll show just a couple of seconds of Ali G. We'll be right back with Sacha Baron Cohen. [applause] … [music] … … You know Ricky Gervase? Sacha Baron Cohen: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Dave Letterman: Did you guys work together at one time on a show? Sacha Baron Cohen: Actually that's true. We started out together in the same show called the 11 o'clock show. He was doing a small segment and so was I. Dave Letterman: Both of you very funny gentlemen. Now we're going to show a clip from your program and I'm not sure what this is but I think it is Ali G and I don't know what he's doing. Do you know what it is? Sacha Baron Cohen: He's actually interviewing Pat Buchanan. Dave Letterman: Oh Pat Buchanan, that's right. Sacha Baron Cohen: A very intelligent guy. Dave Letterman: And the discussion is what? Sacha Baron Cohen: You'll see. It's about Iraq. Dave Letterman: This is from a recent show? Sacha Baron Cohen: Yes. Basically when I met Pat Buchanan, the idea is within a minute he has to realize that he's dealing with an absolute twit so this is before the cameras are even rolling. So I say like "where is we now?" and he'll say "we're in Virginia, this is my house in Virginia." And I go "alright, is that in America?" And he says "yeah, yeah, yeah. It's very close, in fact, we're very close to the CIA. Do you know what that is?" and I said "ya, that's the FBI isn't it?" And he goes "no, that's the Central Intelligence Agency, you know like spies like James Bond." And I go "Oh right. Did you realize that James Bond is not actually a real person?" [laughter] And you suddenly see him realize oh my god I'm going to have this guy interview me now for a half an hour. Dave Letterman: So that's they key? You've got to make them believe, within a minute, that they're dealing with a moron? Sacha Baron Cohen: Yeah. They assume... They see me coming in through the door and they assume that I'm just there to carry the cameras or something like that and I walk in there with a kind of very handsome English guy who is the director. They assume he's the interviewer. He then introduces me and you see their face drop as they realize. Dave Letterman: Alright let's take a look here. Ali G: Does you think that Saddam either was able to make these weapons of mass destruction, or as they is called, BLTs?" Pat Buchanan: Was Saddam able to make them? Ali G: Could he make BLTs? Pat Buchanan: Yes. At one time he was using BLTs on the Kurds in the north. [laughter] … Dave Letterman: Wow. Sacha Baron Cohen: Could have been president. Dave Letterman: The program is in its second season. How many do you do per season? Sacha Baron Cohen: Only 6. Dave Letterman: Only 6? A lot of work I would guess also? Sacha Baron Cohen: Yeah. And laziness. Dave Letterman: And now, I mean, how did Pat Buchanan agree to that interview? How was that possible? Sacha Baron Cohen: I actually can't go into that. I'm sorry, Dave. Dave Letterman: Really? Sacha Baron Cohen: Yeah. It's just for legal reasons, I can't. I'm sorry. Dave Letterman: Does the name Clifford Winedrop ring a bell? [laughter] [applause] … Well, it's a wonderful, very funny, very creative program and it will be seen Sunday, making its second season debut. Pleasure to meet you. Sacha Baron Cohen: Very nice to meet you. Thank you very much. Dave Letterman: We'll be right back ladies and gentlemen. [applause] … |