"Borat" Director Says Sacha Baron Cohen Abandoned Rebel Comedy to Become A Movie Star

Dan Lalonde
Jun 22
2 min read

Updated: Jun 23

Who is your favorite prankster on YouTube? I follow Steven Schapiro, Ross Creations, BigDaws, Impractical Jokesters, and too many others to mention.

In a revealing interview with The Daily Beast, Borat director Larry Charles opened up about his fractured creative relationship with Sacha Baron Cohen, attributing their estrangement to Cohen's shift toward traditional stardom.

Charles, who once hailed Cohen as a “comic genius” on par with Charlie Chaplin and Peter Sellers, said their collaboration began to erode during the production of 2012’s The Dictator. According to Charles, Cohen began “surrounding himself with more traditional show business people” and slowly “pulling away” from the rebellious, subversive humor that defined earlier work like Borat and Brüno.

“He wanted to be more of a traditional movie star,” Charles observed. He believes Cohen began taking advice from Hollywood insiders, which diluted the sharp, satirical edge that initially made him a standout. “It started to fragment and fracture. And the movie’s not bad—it’s funny—but it didn’t reach its potential,” Charles added.

Charles revealed that The Dictator was a “problematic project from the beginning,” initially envisioned as a bold political satire in the spirit of Dr. Strangelove. But outside influences and a lack of clarity from Cohen led to creative disarray. “I tried to get him to trust his instincts,” Charles said, “but he was listening to too many conflicting voices.”

Though the two have not collaborated since, Charles’ comments offer a candid look into how creative vision can be compromised in the pursuit of mainstream acceptance. Comment below with your thoughts.