The Man Behind Borat: Sacha Baron Cohen Speaks

By now, Borat is a man, a myth and a legend.

He charms. He asks questions. He speaks his mind. He offends millions. He loves Pamela Anderson. He wants Madonna to raise his child!

He's also made up. Borat is the brain child of comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. The creator recently sat down with Rolling Stone and gave his first interview out of character.

On becoming a matter of national controversy:
"I wish I would have been there at the briefing that Bush got about who I am, who Borat is. It would have had to be great."

On Kazakhstan's objections to being misrepresented in the film:
"I was surprised, because I always had faith in the audience that they would realize that this was a fictitious country and the mere purpose of it was to allow people to bring out their own prejudices … I think the joke is on people who can believe that the Kazakhstan that I describe can exist."

** THG Note: Does anyone doubt Anna Nicole Smith would think that?

On anti-Semitism:
"Borat essentially works as a tool. By himself being anti-Semitic, he lets people lower their guard and expose their own prejudice, whether it's anti-Semitism or an acceptance of anti-Semitism ... I remember, when I was in university I studied history, and there was this one major historian of the Third Reich, Ian Kershaw.

And his quote was, 'The path to Auschwitz was paved with indifference.' I know it's not very funny being a comedian talking about the Holocaust, but I think it's an interesting idea that not everyone in Germany had to be a raving anti-Semite. They just had to be apathetic."

Now those are some Borat quotes worth listening to.