Sacha Baron Cohen said Rudy Giuliani refused a COVID test before the infamous fake interview in 'Borat 2'

• Sacha Baron Cohen said in a Variety profile that Rudy Giuliani refused a COVID-19 test before doing the fake interview in "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm."
• "There was this debate of what do we do?" Baron Cohen told Variety. "Do we go ahead with this scene? What happens if he has coronavirus? We concluded that it was worth the risk."
• Representatives for Giuliani did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Sacha Baron Cohen said he and his team had to make a big decision when they finally landed the fake Rudy Giuliani interview for "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm."

In a profile on the actor in Variety, Baron Cohen revealed that the personal attorney of President Donald Trump refused to take a COVID-19 rapid test before showing up for the interview, which he thought was about the administration's response to the pandemic.

Because of that, the now infamous ending to "Borat 2" almost didn't happen because Giuliani's refusal to be tested went against the safety protocols the movie had in place while filming.

"There was this debate of what do we do?" Baron Cohen told Variety. "Do we go ahead with this scene? What happens if he has coronavirus? We concluded that it was worth the risk."

Representatives for Giuliani did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Baron Cohen told Variety that they got Giuliani in the room by telling him that the interview was for a documentary called "Keeping America Alive."

But in reality, Giuliani was the sequel's main mark through the entire making of the movie.

"Giuliani was the name from day one," "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm" director Jason Woliner told Insider. "Rudy was the name in the first version I read."

The result is the most shocking moment in the movie.

As Giuliani coughs and sits close to his interviewer - who was actually actress Maria Bakalova (Borat's daughter Tutar in the movie) - the scene devolves into the two going into a bedroom inside the hotel suite where the interview took place. There Giuliani is seen touching Bakalova's side and laying on the bed and putting his hands in his pants (Giuliani claims he was just tucking his shirt into his pants).

The movie certainly dodged a bullet. Five months after doing that interview, Giuliani tested positive for COVID-19.

Despite the Giuliani scene, "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm" took steps to keep everyone on the movie safe while shooting during the pandemic. The producers spent $1 million for testing and PPE, according to Variety.

Read the entire Variety profile on Sacha Baron Cohen.

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