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  4. Sacha Baron Cohen says he'd prefer to be anonymous like Banksy but felt he had to do his part to stop Trump

Sacha Baron Cohen says he'd prefer to be anonymous like Banksy but felt he had to do his part to stop Trump

Zac Ntim   

Sacha Baron Cohen says he'd prefer to be anonymous like Banksy but felt he had to do his part to stop Trump
  • Sacha Baron Cohen told IndieWire that he would rather be anonymous like Banksy.
  • The 49-year-old actor said that he only decided to return to comedy because he felt compelled to stop the rise of Trumpism.
  • "I didn't feel that I could look myself in the mirror if Trump had won, and I hadn't done everything I could to play my part," he said.

Sacha Baron Cohen received the best reviews of his career for performances in "Borat 2" and "The Trial of the Chicago 7," but he told IndieWire that he is uncomfortable with all the new attention and only returned to the big screen because he felt compelled to stop the rise of Donald Trump.

"I would far prefer to be anonymous, to be more of a Banksy type," he said. "But I didn't feel that I could look myself in the mirror if Trump had won, and I hadn't done everything I could to play my part."

Baron Cohen continued to explain that he knew he had to return to the big screen after reading the 2018 book "How Democracies Die," which made him think that Donald Trump's behavior was not just the antics of an eccentric man, but an attempt to threaten US democracy.

"Trump was just following the playbook of how to transition a democracy into an authoritarian regime," he said. "He wasn't mad. That was what compelled me to make two political movies, to speak out as myself, and to deliver a speech as myself about the dangers of social media."

"Borat 2" takes direct aim at the rise of Trumpism, and the film made headlines for months after it was released as audiences witnessed the film's now-infamous Rudy Guliani prank.

The 49-year-old actor is currently an award season favorite for his performances in "Borat" as well as his surprising dramatic turn as the activist Abbie Hoffman in Aaron Sorkin's political thriller "The Trial of the Chicago 7." If he were to be nominated for an Oscar, it would be the first time the academy nominated one of his performances since the first "Borat" movie in 2007.

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