Borat's Movie Daughter Tells Her Side of the Rudy Giuliani Honey Trap Scene
If I'm being perfectly honest, I liked "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm," I didn't love it. There are laughs there and I appreciate excruciatingly awkward comedy and respect the hell out of the effort and sheer guts it takes to even attempt the kind of dangerous pranks Sacha Baron Cohen specializes in. In that sense, it's another remarkable achievement. But it just sort of suffers from the same thing every comedy sequel tends to. Meaning you've seen these bits before, so there's an inevitable drop off the second time around. There's no shame in that. It's the nature of the beast.
The best part of the moviefilm though is Maria Bakalova, the 24 year old Bulgarian actress who plays Borat's underage daughter, whom I've mentioned before.
... and who steals the movie with that famous weapons-grade cringey scene where she honey traps Rudy Giuliani. I won't post it because Amazon has the rights and I'm not about to run afoul of the lawyers for the biggest retailer in history. But here's a link. Though if you haven't seen it by now, where the hell have you been?
Anyway, Giuliani has denied he was grabbing his dong in the scene. Claimed he was just laying back on the bed to tuck his shirt back in. Using that method I've never tried in my life but maybe is common among guys in their 70s when they're alone in a room with a flirty smokeshow. I don't know. You be the judge.
What we do know is that Bakalova is a star in the making. And she just gave the New York Times her version of the event.
Were you still nervous about filming it?
Yeah. I was nervous. My heart was racing. But Sacha was like, you should be nervous in this situation. So use your nerves. Convert them and accept them and they’re going to help you through everything.
Giuliani has said that he was never inappropriate to you and that he was tucking in his shirt, but other viewers believe he was doing something illicit. What happened in that scene?
[Laughs] I saw everything that you saw. If you saw the movie, that’s our message. We want everybody to see the movie and judge for themselves.
But did you come to a conclusion yourself as to what he was doing?
I believe it’s my back [to the camera] there, we can see what he’s doing in the mirror.
What do you think was taking place? You’re the only other person who was in the room. Did you have any other indication as to what he was doing?
[Long pause] What do you think he was doing?
I can see how either interpretation could be correct. But I wasn’t there, and you were. Do you have an opinion either way?
Sacha jumped into the room quickly, because he’s been worried about me. So, if he were late, I don’t know how things were going to go. But he came just in time.
Alrighty then. If we're being fair, "What do you think he was doing" isn't the same as "I can confirm he was whipping his hog out in front of someone he thought was 15. In fact, she says later she didn't book the interview so she has no idea what Giuliani was told about her or her character's age. And by her own admission, Cohen burst into the room before we got to find out what was about to happen. Because he was worried about her perhaps. But also with timing that was perfect for putting a punchline on the bit and at the exact worst possible moment for Giuliani.
So I guess after hearing from Bakalova, we still don't know what his intentions were or where the scene was going if Cohen has just let it play out. It's an eye of the beholder thing. And a lesson to anyone who finds themselves in a situation where an impossibly attractive woman who is way out of your league seems to be showing interest in you. That's something that has never happened to me. But lesson learned, just in case it ever does. A word to the wise is sufficient and all that. Better him than me.
What we do know for sure is that the scene is outrageously funny. And the actress who pulled it off has a great career ahead of her.
