Guys, when's the last quickie you had?Sean?
Well, probably yesterday.What do you mean by quickie?Wait, what do you mean by probably yesterday?
J.B., J.B., let's just get into your hair's midway short.Yeah, yeah.I know, look at that.
And tomorrow morning, the rest of this garbage comes off and I'll just be into stubble and then I'll be into a mullet.
And you already cut a little bit of your hair, a little bit, yeah.
Yeah, so I'm gonna keep the party in the back and pull in some business on the sides and the top, and that'll work for two days, and then we go backwards 20 years, so I'll go back into like your level, your short hair, Sean, and clean shaving.
Like a Michael Bluth, you're gonna go back to a Michael Bluth.I'll go back to a Michael Bluth or a Marty Bird or really every other part I've ever played in my life.
How dare you, how dare you.
Yeah, the acting stretches have not been significant in my career.Not true.
Will you be sad to see the change go?
Yeah, a little bit, but I gotta tell you, I don't know how women do it with the long hair and the showering.You know, like, it's always tangled in your face.And the showering.And it takes you 20 minutes to wash your hair.It's just a nightmare.
Yeah, it's been coming up on a year since you've been growing that hair out and stuff.I mean, this is like a- Longer than a year.
So this is a big, this is gonna be a big departure.
Yeah, I can't wait.My daughters are excited to be done with my nonsense.My wife is not happy about it.
So I saw your wife last night. Yeah, that's what I heard.Yeah, and then she said to me, she's like, I like, because my hair's getting a little bit longer than I usually have it.And she goes, I like it that way.
And then our friend goes, um, no, it's too long.It's, yeah, I don't like it like that.And then, and then also proceeded to tell me that I was a little overweight. Oh, this is another guest at the party?Yeah, so this is the host.
And I'm like, okay, well, that feels great.
I think you look beautiful.You actually look a little thin to me.That's what I said.Yeah, I'd like to fatten him up a little bit.You look thinner.
Sorry, I don't mean to talk to you about, talk to you like you're some sort of like concubine that's just coming.Can you hold, please?I'd like to plump you up a little bit before our session. Sean, how are you feeling?You're still in New York.
We still haven't seen each other.It's as if we don't like each other.
But when you're done with your show... This is my plan.I was gonna say this, but... I was gonna say, please come over.Thursday night, let's do it, because I'm getting in Wednesday.
Let's do a Thursday night dinner, either, Shawnee, at your apartment or somewhere.That would be great.
Yeah, great, because I'm furious that I have now, you know... I'm finishing on Wednesday after seven or eight months on this thing.
And not including the prep, a month of prep.
Well, no, that includes it.And my wife, because she's smarter and kinder about our friends than I am, has forced me to not come home after eight months of being away and stay an extra five days to go see our friend who's opening in a new play.
And so I have to sit here and just kill five days of my life waiting for this.
But that's when you come over and we'll take care of you.
But I mean, I don't think our friend would care if I come see it like in a month or in two months. Right?Is opening night that big of a deal?No, but yeah, it's nice.
We're all gonna go.It's gonna be nice.You're doing it for somebody else.Yeah.But why didn't we all do it later?What do you think your face is doing right now?It probably looks pretty pissed off.That's just gravity.
Yeah, but it's the good, nice thing to do.
We're going to have dinner, the three of us, then we're going to do Jack at JB.We already talked about it this weekend.So you're going to kill some time for me.
You're not going to be stuck out on Long Island?You're going to stay here in the city?
No, I'm not coming.I'm not going to go to Long Island.I'm just going to be in the city the whole time.
Oh, great.All right, so then I've got you until the kids and the wife get here on Friday.Exactly right.And Sean is still in town.Yeah.And I'm still not seeing him.
We've worked it out.We've worked this out.We have it all laid out for you when you come over.If you're listening out there and you want to grab a lunch or something, just let us know.
I was walking down the street the other day and this girl had her earbuds in and she goes, oh my God, Sean Hayes.I go, yeah, she goes, you're really in New York just like you said you were on the podcast.I mean.I don't make it up.
Now, all right, here comes a guest.It's been 50, no, 24 minutes this guest has been waiting with my bad technological problems.All right.
Today, for your listening pleasure, I have brought to you an actor, a writer, a producer, an academic, an activist, and a cellist, all in one.A cellist?A cellist, yeah.
For me, his ability to deliver social, political, and religious commentary wrapped up in side-splitting comedy is completely unmatched, making him one of the most effective and valuable satirists we have in this world.
He starred in multiple movies, both comedic and dramatic, worked with some of our fanciest directors, been nominated, won multiple awards, and he is my absolute favorite person to see at a party.
Guys, the sneaky, handsome, devastatingly funny, Cambridge smart, yet always cheeky, Sacha Baron Cohen.
Oh, for God's sake, look at him go!
Sacha, I'm so sorry for the delay.No, don't worry. I mean, a man of your... I'm not.
Now I don't feel so bad knowing it's Sasha.Now that it's Sasha, I'm like, oh, it's okay.
Will, let me butter him up, and then you take him down.Okay.Thank you.It's ridiculous that I've left somebody of your stature waiting this long.I apologize.
Come, come. Please.It's an honor.It's an honor to be 114th.Thank you very much.
You're deep.You're deep.You should have been on earlier.
Yeah.Yeah.You, Barry, when you do, when you do like, when you have like a big act, right, you don't, you don't have the marquee act for it. You have the opening.You make people wait.You have them 114.You have 230 opening acts.It's deeper than that.
Hey, how are you?Nice to see you.Nice to meet you, Sasha.I don't think I've ever met you.
Have we never met?That seems bizarre.I'm sorry.Lovely to meet you.Lovely to meet you, too.Lovely to meet you.
We'll keep your knees bent on that one.Sasha, you're in Los Angeles or New York?
I'm in Moorea in French Polynesia, where I live now.
Oh, wow.This isn't a bit.
Would you ever live in French Polynesia?Because that sounded great.
You know what?I actually considered, I looked into it very thoroughly, jokes aside.
Truly?That particular spot?
During the pandemic, yeah, during the pandemic, we knew we were going to move, but we were looking somewhere in the southern hemisphere.
because we knew that the flu- The virus doesn't last as long in the Southern Hemisphere.The Northern Hemisphere, the virus was crazy strong.
I think at that point, it was summer in the Southern Hemisphere, and so we had missed the virus.We were advised by someone at Johns Hopkins, who I happened to be, happened to know.And so we looked into French Polynesia.I looked carefully into Tahiti.
It was interesting.There's a bilingual school. You know, there's beaches.
Have you been to Bora Bora?Have you been to the Brando?Have you been to Morea?
I have been to Morea.And I've been to... I've not been to the Brando.And I have been to Bora Bora.Where's the Brando?And I can tell you everywhere else that I've visited as well.
This sounds like real elite fuck off conversation, but- No, no, no, quite right.
Let's discuss the best totems.
No, but listeners, I always thought Tahiti was like, you know, on the edge of the earth.It's only three hours past Hawaii for anybody on the West Coast, you know?So people on the West Coast, they go to Hawaii all the time.
It's like Florida for the people in New York.Yeah, it's eight hours.But it's just three hours past that.
And you're very familiar with it, Jay, because you actually worked there.So, the first time you went down there... Yeah, I did....to fulfill an obligation.Couples retreat.
Yeah, yeah.Yes.Yes.By the way, I am happy to discuss French Polynesia.At length.Till the end, yes.Actually, I was in a shark attack there once.You were?No, I was kind of in a feeding frenzy.You were in one?In Marea.
I went shark diving in Bora Bora.Yeah.Did you?So, is that where it came from?Did you go down to dive with sharks and things got a little hot?
In those days, I think it's illegal now, they used to do something called shark feeding, where I was doing my paddy license and then...
That's how you get certified as a scuba diver, listener, Tracy.
I'm Sean.Yeah.And what happened?
And then, yeah, the guy I was with, some French instructor, had basically said, we're going to feed some sharks.And then he puts on a kind of chain mail hand thing.Obviously, we're underwater and he just said, be near me.And it was just me and him.
and he basically breaks open a sardine, I remember it, and then I remember seeing the droplets of blood.And then within literally two minutes, there were 12 sharks around.No way.
And then he pulls out this bag, this tuna head, and he's got, you know, a chainmail hand on, chainmail kind of glove on, and they start, you know, eating the thing, and it's really interesting, and I'm there opposite.Then they get carried away.
And there's a feeding frenzy, and you can't see anything.
And he's looking at you with eyebrows high like, isn't this white?
He's not looking at me.His glove gets knocked off and his regulator gets knocked out of his mouth.And then he leaves.
He goes up and leaves me alone with the 12 shocks. And I can't see a thing.
Does he put up one finger like, I'll be right back?
No, nothing.It was literally nothing.
I went down there with a guy, he put a tuna head in his wetsuit, right in the front of his wetsuit in order to have all the sharks.It was a big group of us.And I mean, this was planned.And he said not to worry about it.
And we did a little bit and then it was okay.And you can see in their eyes that they're not interested in you. But like, you know, sharks are always scary when your head's kind of just above the water.
You don't know what's going on below, but once you get under and you can look at a shark, look at you and then kind of swim away, your fear of sharks goes away instantly.Wow.Highly recommend it.
That did not happen when the sharks knocked the regulator out of his mouth and knocked the gloves off and he swam away.
Sean, you told me once you walked out of a Ralph's with like 12 cans of tuna in your pants, right?Is that a true story?Did that happen?That was like a dream come true, yeah.
But Sasha, you sound like that was a surprise that it went awry.
I was, and I basically started hyperventilating.I mean, this was my second time diving in my life.Yeah, but I mean, like— And then actually, the guy put his regulator back on.
put the glove back, because he'd left me alone.Went back down, and then the first shot went to attack him, and he punched it in the nose.I mean, this is not good for animal rights lovers out there.No, but that's what you're supposed to do.
He's defending himself, that's okay. I mean, if the shark is eating you and you're just going, no, I didn't want to punch it in the nose.
You can hurt me, I don't want to hurt you.Yeah, give me a break.No, you're allowed.Are you sure that the shark wasn't just coming to him for more sort of that blood?He wasn't trying to bite the guy, was he?
I don't think so.I think they were just in a frenzy.He headbutted the big shark.Did they interview the shark?
He headbutted one of the sharks, the lemon shark, which I think was kind of bad.Those are big.12 feet long.He headbutted that shark.
No, of course you have to.In France, we headbutt the shark.
Afterwards, I did go up to him and I said, has anyone... In the end, I basically came over to be checked my oxygen, and I completely run out of oxygen.And then we did some emergency procedure. where, you know, you take his regulator and go out.
He puts it in your mouth and you put yours in his mouth.He's like, we both have to get in the same wetsuit.Don't worry, it's fine.
This is how we regulate.This is a very long ruse.We're both in this.We go down below.
This hasn't wrecked your love of scuba diving, though, has it?No, no, no.I went back the next day.
I did say to him, I said, has anyone ever got hurt on any of your dives?And he said, two people have died.
For real.Seriously.But it was painless.Yeah, he was a cave diver.Those guys are completely crazy and, you know, he basically missed the fun of and the thrill of cave diving.
I think scuba diving is like, scuba diving is the most magical thing I've ever done.I would love to do it more and more.
But what if he said, what if you said, have anybody ever done, and he goes, yeah, two people, and you said, they, like, in a cave, where he goes, no, I murdered them. This was above, this was not in the water.
No, the night before I murdered them in the room, I strangled them.
Do you do a lot of that stuff, Sasha?Like, do you thrill-seek?Are you a thrill-seeker?
Not really.No, no, no, no.Have you ever skydived?Would you?I have not.I would not.Have you?Have you?
I was a week away from it and then I canceled it because I said to myself, okay, what do you think you'd feel at the end?And then I realized all I would feel is relief.
And then I thought, well, I've just had my first kid and I shouldn't be doing things that I'm excited about having gotten away with it.You know, like no longer should I be doing things I get away with.And so I stopped.
I said, you know, I don't want to do it.None of you guys have done it.Would all three of you do it?
I did the simulation thing, but no.
That doesn't count.What do you mean?The fucking little fly suit at Universal Studios?You get two with the air?No, that doesn't count.
It doesn't count. So, Sasha Baron Cohen, let's drop the Baron, huh?Just to make me even more Jewish, okay.
But wait, Baron is not a part of the last name, is it?Is that your middle name?
It's part of the last name, yeah.Oh, got it.
So, Sasha, your blend of comedy and...
for lack of a better term, education, is, as I said in the intro, I find personally so admirable and like you make the medicine go down super easy for ding-dongs like me and the stuff you shine a light on, not only just on issues, but also sort of ethics and bigotry and et cetera, et cetera, where does that,
come, well, I kind of know where it comes from, but tell the audience, like, when did that, when did you figure out you could blend your social awareness with your comedic talents?
Firstly, thank you very much for that.It's lovely.I could spend all day doing that.But please don't.I think it's the first time, actually the second time I did Borat.So basically Borat was created, I was doing like a
a satellite TV show called F2F, where I was the host of it.It was a discussion show for teenage kids.We'd talk about everything.And, you know, talk about teen topics.And, you know, I wanted to be a comedian.
And so I would go and pre-record characters that I could throw to.And basically, I went out once and... I had this kind of skateboarding character that was an early form of Ali G. And then I basically saw some real skateboarders.
And the guy I was with, this sort of old director from Ealing Studios, who had lost all his money and was working on this really shitty satellite TV show, I said, look, those guys look like me.I go, do you think I should talk to them?
And he said, 100%.So I go over to these guys, And I'm basically on my skateboard and I'm playing this early Ali G character.And they thought I was real.
And after about three minutes, I said, guys, you know, I'm not... You know, I'm not real, this is just, you know, playing along.They were completely freaked out.
And then a tourist bus came, I jumped on the tourist bus, I commandeered it, I started rapping, got off the bus, went into a park... What year was this, Sasha?What year was this, maybe?This was, I think, 1995 or four.
Anyway, I basically go into a pub, I start breakdancing, they call the police, I go into some big business, I claim that my dad's upstairs and he's the CEO, they call security.We run back to this live TV show.
I run, they put on my normal clothes, and this guy, this legendary guy, who's an editor at Alien Studios, is editing while I'm on air. This is the days of pneumatics.This is, he's like cutting, you know, everybody's losing forefront.
And he's adding music.And this guy was a kind of legendary guy.Wow.And I'm cutting to this stuff and it's, you know, me with real people.So it was the first time that it was a comic character with real people.
And you realize that you could Trojan horse some of the social commentary inside a comedy, yeah?
You're right.I'm not really answering your question at all.This was like the first time I ever did you know, characters in the real world.
Because, yeah, you weren't doing that shit.Like, even Ali G, you weren't really doing... Early on Ali G, you weren't really making a commentary.You were just fucking with people.
Yeah, early on.Well, but you were exposing sort of the low brow perspective on certain things that deserve a high brow analysis, yeah?
Well, I think in a way, Ali G was kind of a undermining of the establishment.It was essentially saying, okay, these people that run society,
they are completely out of touch with society, so much that they will believe that this guy is real, despite him asking the most absurd questions ever.
Can I tell you, Sasha, I think I've told you this, and JB, you might know this, but... and I don't mean to speak ill of the dead, No, I told you I wouldn't ever You were in You were a wreck.
I was furious.I was weeping.It's one of the weirdest positions.I was weeping at the Vanity Fair party.
It's not a position you think Sasha would have, but boy.No, it was years ago, right after it aired, and I want to say about 2003, 2004, something like that.You were still doing Ali G at the time.It was before Borat.And...
I was at a party with, because he was on Arrested Development, with James Lipton.Jason, you were there too.And I had just seen it, and I said to James Lipton, I go, oh, I saw you on L.A.G., and I said, um, God, that was so funny.
The actor studio guy?The actor studio guy, yeah.And he was on Arrested Development.He played the warden of the prison.Warden Gentiles?Gentiles?Yeah, yeah, that's right.I think that's right.And it's a really funny bit to have him as the warden, right?
And the whole time he's really just trying to get them all to mount a play, like a musical.But he says... I said, yeah, so you know, gee, God, that was so funny.
He goes, I knew when he came in, I knew that it was a bit... And he went on this whole thing.And I just watch it and I'm thinking like...
No, he didn't.No, he had absolutely no idea because he took me off camera after we'd finished the interview back to the other room.And so, you know, I was still in character.He completely believed who I was.And I think he showed me like a painting.
of a naked- Of his wife.Woman.Yes, is that possible?It's her first wife.Yeah, it is.
Yeah, and he goes, that is my wife.Yeah.Which you wouldn't do if you thought, and I was like, yo, man, yo, she is, man, I was boned out, yo.
Somebody else, wait, you know how I know that?Somebody else, Usher, has told me that very same thing.That he turned back and said, this is a naked picture painting of my wife.
There we go, you verified the story.That is fact-checking.We have just fact-checked, we've established me as a reliable witness.
And that started the classic line from Borat of, it's my wife, right?
Yeah, it's my naked wife, my wife. That's James Lipton.She was beautiful, by the way.She was beautiful.I'll bet.Classically, if we use those kind of ways to categorize women.Sure.What does it even mean?
Of course.We'll be right back.And now, back to the show.
At the beginning, when I asked you, like, about the risk-taking, like, I was like, would you do anything else other than, you know, swim with the sharks or whatever?And you said, no, absolutely not.We're talking about skydiving.
I'm just realizing, like, this, what you do is so high-risk.So it's like, that must fulfill some kind of, like, rush in you.
Yeah, the fear, like, you love that kind of rush of, like, you're about to get caught.Right.
You're not doing that as much anymore, correct?Is that because you're just sort of like, older and wiser and you don't want to get hit or run anymore.
Interrupted slightly.I thought I was waiting for that sliver.You threw me a line.A little early.
No, I can go on.Thank you for that.
And then there was an orb.Then there was an orb.With the last Borat movie, there was quite a lot of that stuff.And actually, I mean, we did, there was a scene at a gun rally, which got quite hairy.
I remember reading about that, yeah.
Yes, it was, you know, I mean, the people with semi-automatics and automatics in the audience, and it was a militia, unfortunately, that had organized it, that then didn't take it very well.And I was singing a song called The Wuhan Flu.That's right.
Everybody, what you gotta do?
I don't even remember it, but... I mean, where does the fearlessness come from, though?
Well, there, I'll tell you the truth, with that scene, because we knew that there were going to be... You know, basically, it was a gun rally, and everyone was... It was in the middle of COVID.We were the only movie shooting.
And so, you know, my security said, listen, you need to have a bulletproof vest on. And so I put on the bulletproof vest and I said, they go, that's fine for pistols.And they said, I go, what if somebody shoots the, you know, semi-automatic?
And you know, it's not just one person.So they built, so I was singing on stage.So they built an amplifier that was pretty much, bomb-proof.
So they basically said, you know, if people start really shooting with the semi-automatics, go behind the amplifier and you'll be safe.Jesus!It's unbelievable.And so the thing is, you know, you're in the scene, I'm on stage.
And, you know, you have this kind of conflict between, you know, I'm terrified.And then you also have, I need to get the scene.So you want to, so I was doing, you know, the same verse again, because I felt I hadn't got a good take of it.
People were getting more and more, you know, they realized at some point that it was me on stage.There was somebody actually undercover from Black Lives Matter. had infiltrated this gun rally.
And basically they recognized me and word spread that it was me.And then people started trying to storm the stage.
Right, because they realized they were getting clowned.
And obviously they all had guns.And then, but I'm trying to get the scene and obviously do as many different takes and Eventually, they did storm the stage, and actually somebody pulled a gun.
And luckily, I had a very good bodyguard at the time who managed to... Wow....make a bullet. Yeah, he's dead, but he gave him such a beautiful funeral.
That's what you said at the time, yeah.
Yeah, he was such a... He went away so well.He had such a beautiful and reasonable funeral.
You know, when you're... It's funny you mention reasonable, because I was going to say, as part of this, and you've kind of... the situation you've described, you have to deal with a lot of people who some might consider to be kind of unreasonable, to be extremists of, you know...
in certain ways.And my question is, when you deal with all these people and you're revealing all this or pulling back the covers on all this kind of shit, do you ever have a moment where you go, you know what, this person is kind of a good person.
They're just really, they've just gotten off on the wrong path.Or misinformed.I'm sure some of them are despicable, yeah, but just some are misinformed, but actually at their heart, they're kind of good people.
Yes, I mean, on the last movie as well, there were these two guys I spent three days in a house with called Jim and Jerry.And they were... Wait, this is Bruno, right?No, this was Bullrat 2.Oh, right, right, right, right.
You know, they believe that Hillary Clinton drank the blood of children and, you know, COVID was a conspiracy and... and that Hillary killed kids and all, but they were actually, they were nice people.They were good people.They were just...
And so you suddenly realize they're, and they're actually feminists because, well, when I was, you know, when I was being, when Bora was being a misogynist about his daughter, they were like, they took it upon themselves to teach me that it was important to be respectful to your daughter.
And if she wanted to do her own thing, she should do.So they, They were actually good guys, and you suddenly realized, and it was a surprise, right?Because they had those views.And you want to dismiss these people as being horrific.
And then you suddenly realize that actually any good person if they're fed a set of ideas and set of information that's wrong, can believe conspiracy theories that ultimately lead to horrific stuff.Right.Right?
Well, I mean, you know, we... at the risk of stepping towards political, which we try not to do on this because God knows people get enough of that shit away from here.
But just on this subject, do you feel hopeful at all that there's a scenario of possibility where those who feel so disenfranchised and aggrieved can be brought into a sense of, well, actually, I guess we aren't, you know, we needn't be tribalized.
We can all kind of get along and work as one.Like, do you see that as a possibility?
I don't, given the state of the current, you know, internet and information laws, basically.
Yeah, that possibly you can penetrate this misinformation and make it healthy.
Well, you know, you're being fed so much stuff that polarizes you.You know, if you look at the craziness that is going on in the world, everything has been accelerating since, you know, social media came along.
So until really, in my opinion, until you actually get laws that you know, to get legislation that curbs the power of those social media companies and says, all right, actually, you can't spread lies like this that kill people.
Or that completely undermine democracy.
And you are legitimately educated on this issue of free speech versus you know, trying to keep the social media sites from being regulated.
And so my question to you is, what is that difference between, well, free speech should be given to everybody, but you can't yell fire in a crowded theater.So what is that line and who is the one that can say,
Oh, yeah, this qualifies as you can't yell fire in a crowded theater, so therefore you can't say that.Like, who decides what statements get put in that category?
I mean, these are very big questions, huge, and they kind of vary from country to country.So, you know, in England and Australia and Germany, you know, you have laws about hate speech and about certain types of misinformation.
In America, obviously, you have complete free speech, but it's not up to those... Except for yelling fire.Yes.Well, actually, you kind of can at the moment.
I mean, you know, the internet companies, because they're not regulated because of this thing called Section 230, they can put out... Which is a free speech thing, right?Section 230 isn't really about free speech.It basically says you can't sue them.
So once you can't sue a company, you know, they have no obligation to, you know, maintain the free speech of the United States in the same way that a restaurant can say, you know what, I'm going to throw you out of the restaurant for saying this or that or, you know.
You know, having that KKK hood here.So I think the fact, you know, they're saying that they care about free speech basically because it's fantastic for their business model.
It means that they can have every single person in the world can be on Meta, can be on Instagram, can be on X. They're not actual, they don't care really about free speech.
— No, look at Elon Musk, who consistently talks about free speech, and he'll do that, and then out of the other side of his mouth, he's sort of decrying the government for doing X, Y, and Z, or he's kicking people off, or he's muting them on Twitter.
I actually don't want to talk to him because I don't want to give him any more air time. in my opinion, so fucking unfunny, it's crazy.
Which is, I think, the most damning thing about one of... No, a lot of damning things, but the fact is how profoundly unfucking funny he is is so astonishing.
And that's why your work and, you know, your courage, quite frankly, in my opinion, is so valuable.And, you know, I'd take it... I wish you were back on a weekly show.I'd take it once a week. Um, so thank you for all of that.
I think you're right.Yeah, JB, we need to have that sort of, you need to be in there lampooning and really showing, shedding light on the hypocrisy alone is so fucking jarring, right?
Yeah, it's refreshing to... I mean, it must be fun for you when you have those people say, when you put them in that position and then they say the thing that you're like, fucking hell, this is unreal.
Yeah, yeah.I mean, obviously, it's horrific, but you go, you know, while I'm actually in the room, I'm editing the scene as well.Right.So, in my head, I'm going, you know, once they've got the thing, I go, oh, that's great.
And now one follow-up question, bang.Okay, now I'm going to move on to the next bit.You know, because there's obviously no director there.Yeah.
Where did you, where did, you know, I've always been taken by your, your... Figure.Your, yeah.
Thank you.Your silhouette.It is surprisingly, think more about that.
I mean, there's more about that.
Well, tell me more about that.What do you mean, what do you mean my figure?
On that topic, what do you mean?It's surprisingly.It's surprisingly, but you're, I did say sneaky handsome in the intro, I believe.Thank you, thank you.But the, and you did start as a model, but we don't need to talk about that.
More in Wikipedia accuracy.But your ability as an actor is like, you know, breathtaking might be overstating it, but I don't have a better word.
I don't know, I don't know.
But it's like your comedy is never, your comedy never comes from jokes and you're never making, you know, it's rarely as a pratfall or making faces.It's about your ability to be so convincing with an extremely eccentric character.
And yet you can be literally sitting in front of somebody who's super smart, and maybe even primed to sort of sniff out some gotcha moments, and they still can't tell that it's you.
But not even when you're doing, you know, those characters, when you're just in films and dramas and stuff.Like, where, you didn't take formal training as an actor, did you?
I only did one course.I studied with Philippe Golier, the legendary clown teacher.
At the Sambon?Clown, clown school.
At l'école Philippe Golier.Yeah, at a clown school.That was it, I did it.But no, I didn't really train in acting, no.
It's just something that you tell us.Does it just come natural to you?How do you, what do you?
Well, I think, Yeah, I think, you know, we did an experiment after, in 2016.That show, Who's America, came out of me and my collaborator, Ant Hines and Dan Swimer.We basically said, you know what, let's just create some characters.
I'd done a movie, it'd been a complete bomb.And I was like, let's take this opportunity to create some characters.And we decided to go,
Every week for the next 10 weeks, we're going to create a character, write it, create a fake prosthetic head for it, and at the end of the week, shoot with the real person, with the character.
And I did that for 10 weeks, and there were a variety of crazy characters, some that made it to the show.Six we put in the show.And then I realized, basically,
what I was able to do is once I've got the way the character speaks, and once I work out what it looks like, and once I work out what the clothes are, and I've got a couple of phrases, I can just stick in it.
So that was, a couple of weeks in, I was like, oh, this is what I can do is I can, you know, they call it inhabiting a character, but I actually kind of, You know, if I've got 30 seconds or whatever, then I can go in it.
There must be something wrong with my brain.
No, I think some people, it's just comfortable to them to pretend to be somebody else, and they just know how to be super subtle and convincing and authentic, and it doesn't trip them up, and you're able to stay in it.
Well, there's a freedom, but there's a freedom, too, if you think about it, because a lot of those times when you're shooting, especially some of the sort of, whether it's Borat or Bruno or whatever, you've created a character, or multiple characters,
But the people you're working with are not aware that they're in a scene in the same way, right?So it's much... A, it's difficult because it's complete verite, right?You're actually in their real life, right?
So you've got to not just convince the audience, you've got to convince the person you're dealing with in the moment that you're real, a real person, right?So you've got to do that.And there must be a certain...
I don't know, making that leap is tough, I would imagine.Just getting into that.
Yeah, making it real.I mean, it's funny, sometimes I can't... you know, I'll have a director say, you know, I want you to do, you know, a scripted movie.And they'll go, this time you're gonna be playing a real person.
And I go, hold on, the other people I play are real people, which is why I'm with Dick Cheney for three hours.And he doesn't doubt once that he's with a real person.What about Giuliani?
I mean, thank God.You started that.
Well, can you say anything?Can you talk about Giuliani?Yes, yeah, I can, I think, talk about Giuliani.That was amazing.I mean, essentially, you know, that movie... So, we were like, why do we bring Borat back?And actually, I've got to thank Kimmel.
where Kim had said, we want you on, it was like the midterms.
And he wanted me to do some sketch where basically I was a kind of Ashton Kutcher type who had been manipulating Kanye West into turning him into a character that was so ridiculous that he would hang out with Donald Trump.
And basically I said, I'll do it so long as Kanye will do it.This was years ago, this was 2000, 18, right?And so I called up Kanye and said, will you do this thing?And it would be, you know, he'd already met up with Trump.
And I said, will you do this sketch where it says, you know, we're planning out, you know, we're going to create this ridiculous character, and it's going to end up with you in Trump Tower, and it's going to be as if you were playing along.
And he said, I love the idea, but, you know, I need the president to agree.And I was like, Trump?I go, don't, no, no, don't ask him. So, I couldn't do, he goes, no, I love him, and I want you to, I need to ask him.
I go, please do not tell him we're doing this sketch at all.So, I couldn't do that sketch, and then basically, I decided to do Borat.Actually, I spoke to Chris Rock, is that a name drop?I think so, yeah.
It's a kind of name drop.Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's a name drop.So, I spoke to Chris Rock, world-famous comedian and actor, And he said, why don't you, you know, I was in a rush, basically I was going to go on air two days time.
He said, just do Borat going door to door.We did Borat door to door, got the mustache out of storage.And then I realized that basically Borat was just an extreme form of Trump.They had almost identical views.
I was like, oh great, we can bring him back for Trump.And then I was like, how do I infiltrate, you know, Trump's world?I go, okay, if he has a daughter who's 15, wouldn't it be great if, you know, Trump had sex with her?
And so, you know, originally I was trying to work out how to get this, you know, actress in with Trump.
We got her close to him for a while, but it was, you know, we spoke to a lot of ex-Secret Service guys, and the idea was, like, I would kind of jump out of the wall somewhere.
We had, like, all these plans where, you know, Trump would be in a room, I would be inside the wall.We would, you know, hollow out a wall, then build it up around me. And then I burst out when he was with her.And... Oh, my God.
An ex-top Secret Service guy looked after the President.And we go, what do you think of this plan?I'm going to be in there.I'll be in there for, like, five hours.
He said, the issue is that the Secret Service have a machine that sees if there's anyone else, anyone in the walls. And I go, all right, so, I go, what's worse comes worse, they find that I'm there.And what, they pull me out?
He goes, no, they shoot you dead.I go, why?He goes, because why else would you be in a, why would there be a living person inside a wall, unless they were dressed like that?
It's a safe assumption that they can't negotiate with a guy like you, they just kill him.
So we basically gave up on Trump.Also, you know, We thought at the time that, you know, he was the most protected person in the world.I mean, this was prior to those last unfortunate incidents.But Rudy... But then we found out Rudy was a possibility.
A little bit of a softer target.Yeah, but we knew that he was gonna be crucial.Yeah.And we kind of researched him.We found out what he drank, when he started drinking.Was the answer anything? I think there was a particular type of alcohol.
But then we heard that he would sweep the room.He had a very senior head of security who would come in and sweep the room.And so we built a kind of fake...
um cupboard inside the wardrobe so fake back to there was a wardrobe that if somebody opened it it would have a fake back to him behind that was me and so the idea was you know i'll just stand in there for you know an hour and a half and the necessary bit jump out
if he was close to kissing, you know, the girl playing my daughter.And anyway, basically, we had a crew member who accidentally put me in the wrong room.And I said, you know, when is, you know, so I would have to be in position.
for, you know, for this to happen.
Otherwise, you know, there's no way to get into the room, because his head of security would come into the room, sweep the room, sweep every room, and then he would sit outside, so no one could come in with Rudy and her.
And I was in the wrong room, and I said, wait a minute, how long till Rudy, you know, goes to the room?And he said, oh, he's on his way there now.And I was like, now?And basically, I ran to the room, and I literally saw Rudy's leg
come around the corner, I ducked into the room, went into the wardrobe, went behind the fake wall, closed it, and then I heard the door open off his security, you know, sweep the room that I was in, and then come out.So he swept through the room.
We did the scene, you know, eventually, oh, by the way, so I'm in there for an hour and a half, and you know, the only way I can communicate with the director was through a cell phone, and we thought of everything.
I pick up the cell phone, I'm in the pitch black, and there's 3%. Oh, you were, you know, an hour and a half.I was like, we did everything.We've got hidden cameras, we've got the... But we... Somebody had not charged the cell phone.
So, at some point, I had to kind of climb out of it and make eye contact with the brilliant actor Maria, who's playing my daughter.And she's like, Rudy's on the bed, and she's coming out, looking at me, going, what do I do?
And eventually, I confronted Rudy.He freaks out, goes out the room, and his head of security pushes me into the room.You know, I'm playing Borat, and Borat, you know, is so naive.
You know, if he sees a chair, he'll say, what is this machine with four legs?You know. And suddenly the head of security pushed me back into the room, going, you're going nowhere, because I had an escape route.
So my security guy was going to take me down the escape route, but the head of security pushes me into the room and goes, you're going nowhere, you're staying right here.And I said, this is a false imprisonment.
You are standing on my property and you will leave now and unhand me now.And basically he realized that and read the law.
Ran down, ran down the fire escape, got into a car, got to the crew hotel, and then, essentially, my lawyer says, he found out what we did, and he said, okay, you've got to get out the state now.I go, that's ridiculous, why?
They go, Rudy, Rudy had called something, and I'd met the manager of the hotel a year onwards in D.C.
And he said, Rudy had done something, I don't know what he called in, but he said, every single type of law enforcement descended on the hotel, shut down the hotel, they confiscated all the equipment, all the crew was stuck in the hotel rooms.
And then my security, I had a policeman that I'd hired, he realized that I'd set up Rudy Giuliano.He immediately told Rudy's security where I lived, where I was staying.Jesus Christ.And so my lawyer was like, get the hell out of New York City now.
I was like, that seems a little bit over the top.I called up this other security guy I know, I know a lot of security guys, who runs these kind of detectives, you know, New York and stuff like that.
And I said, listen, I've been told I have to leave New York State you know, in the next 20 minutes, because I interviewed someone and I go, he goes, what did you do?And I go, you know, all like some, you know, lingerie and da-da-da, politician.
I go, he goes, who was it?I go, it was, you know, it was Giuliani.He goes, get the hell out of the hotel now. So, I start texting everyone who I knew outside of New York, go, hi, how's it going?I haven't seen you for a few years.
This was the middle of the pandemic.You know, this is when Manhattan was completely empty.You'd go up Fifth Avenue, there was not a car or a person.I go, how's it going?Any chance I could stay soon?When?15 minutes.
And people are like, you know, people are like freaked out, not responding.Eventually one of them says yes.And basically I drive to Connecticut and it was fantastic.
But you got all the footage and you got your equipment.
We got all the footage.And then, yeah, it was interesting.It was interesting.
And we will be right back.And now back to the show.
So Sasha, I would imagine that the thrill of acting and also the social relevance, political relevance of some of your efforts is thrilling.Does it compare with just the pure acting thrill of being in a film that's directed by Martin Scorsese?
I mean, that's just one third of what you're doing when you're doing your other stuff.Can you compare the two of them?Are you drawn towards one versus the other?
I mean, I am, I remember the first film I did was Talladega Nights.Yeah.And it was the first trailer I'd been in.Ricky Bobby.And I went in, Ricky Bobby, and... And basically, I remember seeing that there was a bed in the trailer.
And I'd never had a trailer beforehand because we'd always been in the back of a car.I was like, why is there a bed?Someone's accidentally put a bed in my room.And they go, no, that's, I go, what am I meant to do with it?Sleep, you know?
And so I thought, wow, this is actually an incredible gig.But, you know, when it's the other staff, It is, I mean, it's much less stressful.Yeah.Although, you know, I just did this show with Alfonso Cuaron.
Yes, let's talk about that.That's coming on Apple.
Well, we had like a 15-minute scene, yeah, with me and Cate Blanchett.They wanted to do it in one take.
Yeah.And that became pretty exhausting and pretty- Do you have a passion for acting, like the frickin' craft of acting?Yes.
I mean, if it's good, and you're working with an incredible director, then, and you're an incredible director, my friend.
No, you are.Can I just say?No, you take your time.Let's do the remainder of this about Jason.But yeah, then it is great.
But it's in different categories for you, though, yes?I mean, it's not comparable, right?They're different things, yes?No.
No, because you're just doing the act.You know, everything else is, how are we going to get into the room?What's the escape route?Who's that person?That person's looking suspicious.This person doesn't quite believe me.
My fake ear is falling off my head, you know?And then you're, you know, number eight. in the thing is a performance.It's a performance.
It's a scene, yeah.Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Now, Sasha, I speak on behalf of millions of people that are fans of yours like I am, like huge fans, where we're constantly waiting for your next thing, because you're one of the few artists that combine art and politics and have been so successful in all of those improvisational types of whatever you call them.
These movies replay these characters. Obviously, you can't tell us if you're, what it is you're working on, but are you, could we expect another character to pop up in a movie soon?Are you excited about that type of thing to do that again?
Because from the outside, I can't wait.
Short of the straight acting thing with Kate Blanchett.
Yeah, I can't wait for those types of things again.
Or are you done with that?I think they are, yeah.I mean, the last one became so extreme.And...
It was, you know, after that, you know, gun rally thing that I was talking about, I was essentially on the run, I had a militia kind of following me, and we were going, I was going from safe house to safe house for about four days.That's the movie.
Yeah, exactly.By the way, I mean, it's, that was, yeah, it kind of is the movie because, you know, you finish that, that song with that militia, you go, oh, that went really well.
And then, you know, the escape itself is tough because we're in an ambulance, we're surrounded by 30 guys trying to pull me out of the ambulance.They pull open the door, you know, I'm struggling.
But we can't get enough of that. We can't get enough of that.
Yeah, I mean, no one's really... You know, that's the behind-the-scenes stuff.At some point, there needs to be a behind-the-scenes movie.
We shot... We did have... We've got a bunch of footage of the last 25 years, but... Yeah, that... I think it became so crazy in the last one that you realize...
you've gotta be, there's a certain amount of skill and preparation, but also you've gotta be lucky, and at some point, your luck runs out.
Your luck runs out.And they're just the practicality of it, because it has been so successful for so long, this type of, again, for lack of a better term, ambush type of thing.People know you.They love these films.
Millions and millions of people have seen them.You just can't sneak up on anybody anymore.
Yes.Well, I think just the danger element meant that, I just didn't really want to do it again.You know, I felt I had to do it for that election.I had to do it.
I felt it was like, you know, I was terrified about... Well, let's not come off the gas just yet, okay?Yes.
We're not out of the woods yet, Sasha.Still need you.That's true.You know, I haven't asked you one fucking question, and we're done.
We're finished with the time.No, I've got all these things all, like, highlighted and everything. I apologize to the listener.We haven't done any legitimate journalism here.
Let's at least talk about Disclaimer and working with Alfonso Cuaron and Apple and Cate Blanchett.I mean, it's well, well, well deserved for your acting talents to be working with these people at the top of the profession.
So have you seen it all the way through, Disclaimer?
I watched it for the first time in Venice.
And... I mean, no one could believe that I hadn't watched it until then.And I'm... The embarrassing thing was I was laughing at the jokes that I make in it.There's not many, but it's quite embarrassing.
You're at a premiere watching yourself, and you're one of the only people laughing at... And then I was like really moved by one of my performances.I was like near tears, and I realized I'm just a complete narcissist.
Just really moved by my own performance.
Wait, it wasn't until Venice this year that you realized that?
I never knew there was a connection between actors in movies and narcissism.No, I had no idea.
I'll bet it's absolutely stunning.It's actually excellent.It comes out October... Or it came out.When is it?Came out.When is it?
Yeah, when's this coming out?October 11th.Yeah, it came out.It came out October 11th.
It came out October 11th.It was amazing.It's incredible. No, I mean October 11th.It was the weather was so great that day.
Sasha when when do we get to?Were you coming back to Los Angeles at any time soon?And we can hang out again like the old days.Yeah, damn it I love seeing you.
And Sean, it would be lovely to meet you in the flesh.
I would love that too.I'm around.Just give a shout if you need a place to crash when you're in trouble in New York again.
Yes, my place is yours.If you don't mind militias coming to your door.Yeah.Are you kidding?Yeah.What do they look like?
You were really, really nice to say yes to this.I know you don't do this a lot.No, no, no.
I'm awful at it.The honest truth is I'm very bad at it.It's fantastic.I'll see you socially.Socially, it's a pleasure, but the slight pressure with the... No pressure.No, this is great.
By the way, very muscly.I can see your... I don't know if you're doing this intentionally, but I've seen glutes.I've seen triceps, triceps.No, you've been working out.You're looking very muscular. Put your arms down.Are you doing this for a reason?
This is for my pinup collection.I think this is my July for my calendar.
Wow, you really actually do look incredible.
Prison with Arnett, that's the calendar. Sasha, thank you so, so, so much.No, thank you.We love you a lot.Please come out to LA.
I love you.No, seriously, I love you both.Sean, you seem very lovely.
He's the best of the three of us.
Miss you, Sasha.Always a pleasure.These two, I do love.I do love.We're trash compared to him.
I love you, Sasha.Even though we don't know each other, I love you.You love me?
I feel affectionate.I feel an instant warmth.Oh, he's a little love thing.Yeah, yeah.Very charming and lovely persona.
You just want to pet him when you see him.He totally does seem like that.You're right.
You're not going to sue me for saying that, are you?Okay. K-Monty Strong on our podcast.Loved it.
Thank you, buddy.Thank you and goodbye.Enjoy the rest of your night.
Thank you for agreeing to... I can't wait for disclaimer.Everybody check it out on Apple.
Honestly, I would say I thought it was excellent.
Yeah, we'll see you at the Emmys, I'll bet.I hope they should put that on the poster.I think it's excellent.
I personally thought it was excellent.By the way, I have seen stuff that I've done, I was like, that is bad.I laughed and I cried at myself.
But it'd be pretty fucking funny to have a quote from one of the stars of the film.
All of them.Kay Blanchett.Kay Blanchett.Guaranteed Emmy, tour de force.Kay Blanchett.And of course, Kevin Kline.I am in this.
Ooh, Kevin Kline's in it too?
Kevin Kline's in it.He's actually fantastic in it.
God, I love him.I love him.I'd like to see more from him.
All right.Enjoy the rest of your night.Thank you.See you soon.Love to everyone.Okay, toodaloo.Thank you.Bye.Thank you, pal.
That's a great guest, Jay.That was really, really great.
Yeah, great job, JB.I just love him.I mean, he's got great stories.
One of the funniest guys ever.I mean, he's up there with Sean Hayes, Will Arnett, and Will Ferrell in my world.I just can't, I get in an instant good mood.
Well, nobody, I was going to say to him, nobody does, I mean, it sounds so cliche to say it, but it's true.Nobody does what he does.Nobody's ever done what he does.
No one's got the intelligence, the balls, or the acting talent to do what he does.
Yeah, it's like a Peter Sellers... Which is his hero, by the way.
Oh, really?I'm sure.Yeah, that's his idol.
It's like a version of that in real life when he goes... But applying it to the real world.Yeah, that's what I'm saying.Right, which is so... It's really cool.I never met him before.He just seems so...
I'd love to hang out with him, yeah.He's like the greatest at a party.I just start to hover, and he's eventually got to walk away from me because I just put in too much time.
Yeah, he seems hyper-intelligent.He is.Oh, yeah, Cambridge.
Educated.Oh, wow.Yeah, of course.Not a ding-dong.Speaking of ding-dongs, what's for lunch today, Sean?
I'm gonna do a French dip. And with French fries.
Why is it always something special?What do you mean?It's always got something with sauce or like some kind of like really electric flavor to it.How about just like some sort of sustenance?
Aren't you amazed at how fast I know my answers whenever you ask what I had or what I'm going to have?
Well, we're cutting into it right now, right?You can probably smell it, right?It's two o'clock in these coasts.
You can probably smell it?
Yeah, is it already? It's just waiting on the paper.No, no.
Where is it from?No, I'm gonna, the second night.There's a place a block away.I can't remember the name of it.
Don't say the name.Someone will try to poison you.
Yeah, no.I can't remember.But it's a block away.It only takes a second to get.Yeah.It's so good.Wow.It's so good.It's one of the best in the city.You know what I'm gonna have?What?Nothing.
Yeah.You know what you should have?Because I've got this stupid level of discipline because of my passion for my character, my strung out, fence-freed kid.I get it.I know you do.
I know you're joking, but it's true, and it's very admirable.I'm so tired.
It's not a healthy way to do it.I know.I'm tired of being thin.
But Wednesday, that's what I'm saying, Wednesday, after Wednesday is over and you wrap your beautiful show, an amazing show that everybody's gonna go ape shit about.
Yeah, Thursday.No, Wednesday or Thurs... No.Yeah, Wednesday I wrap.So Thursday, our dinner, can it be something super fattening?
Yeah.I have to have... So I'm not... Because I have lost weight.I'm on a new thing, which is it's all about... Eating more and eating the right thing and that's what I'm talking about.Losing weight unhealthily is not good.
You can lose weight and also do it in a healthy way and look like this.
So then what am I gonna have Thursday night?Am I gonna have steak?
You know, steak okay?Yeah, a lot of steak and veggies, no starch, no bread, no nothing like that.
Why can't you do pizza?Can you do pizza?
You can have a little bit... No. No, no, man.A little bit of starch at lunch, a tiny bit, like a little bit of maybe a sweet potato, a couple of pieces, maybe a little bit of rice, like that much, a couple.
Yeah, you got to release the valve every once in a while.So you want a little tiny, little bite of pizza, Sean, go ahead.
One cheat meal a week, one meal.To keep your metabolic rate going, right?Yeah, one, but it's not about, here's the other thing, it's not fast metabolism or slow metabolism, it turns out, hot or cold.
And what you need to do to keep your metabolism hot is you need to feed it with the right stuff at the right time of day.I went and saw this guy.Unbelievable.Yeah.Uh, unreal.Is the guy you're dating?Or... Oh, a nutritionist.
We're just seeing each other.He, um... I mean, I met him, um... I met him right behind... You know the party store on Sunset?Sure.Uh, so... Yeah.Oh, I know the guy.
And I hear... He says, I'm gonna be on a Corolla.
Yeah, and he... No, anyway... How many times did he flash the brights?What was the code? It was Morse code, and I thought he said, help, and it was, can you help me with my pants, is what it was.
He was just, you know, he was just a person.He was like a bystander, bystander.
Well, just commit to it.Just do it.Someone's hungry.Try to do it without going up on by this time, okay?Okay.
So the guy, I know that guy that you met behind the party, he was just a regular bystander.
Yeah, not as good, but bye everybody.
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