The 'Borat' actor recalls his stunt at the Republican event dressing up President Donald Trump and how the secret service never asked for his ID before they let him go.
- October 24, 2020
AceShowbiz - Actor Sacha Baron Cohen's prank on U.S. Vice President Mike Pence for his new "Borat" movie was almost derailed by security officials after his fat suit set off the metal detector.
The British funnyman reprises his Kazakh newsman character for "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm", in which he dresses up in a padded suit, wig, and heavy makeup to impersonate President Donald Trump at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland in February (20), when he interrupted Pence's speech at the political event.
He was promptly escorted out by security guards, but Cohen admits he almost didn't make it into the venue - until a lie about a pacemaker saved the stunt.
Recalling the lengths he had to go to for the shoot, he told U.S. show "Good Morning America", "That was pretty difficult because I woke up at two o'clock in the morning and I had a world-class prosthetics team turn my face into the president. That took about six hours and I was wearing a fat suit..."
"Obviously I had to get through a number of layers of security, including TSA (Transportation Security Administration) security... I knew the moment they touched the fat suit they would not allow me in, and one of them wanded me (with a metal detector) and there was a beep."
"They said, 'What is that?' I said, 'It's a pacemaker,' and then they carried on with the wand, and then suddenly the lower bit of the belly, it beeped again, and they said, 'What is that? Why is it beeping?' "
"I had no answer and the TSA officer said, 'Hold on, it's the wire for the pacemaker, right?' I was like, 'Yeah...' and he goes, 'OK, go through!' "
It wasn't the only hurdle Cohen had to overcome - once inside, he had to hide out in the men's toilets and wait for Pence to take the stage.
"I essentially hid in the bathroom at CPAC for five hours... then eventually we did the scene, and got escorted out by about 15 security staff, including Secret Service and local police," he shared.
However, Cohen reveals he was let off pretty easily after the prank. "Interestingly enough, they never got my identification," he recalled.
"So if you're watching this, the Secret Service, I think next time try and ensure if somebody breaks into a political event with the vice president or president, you check for their ID."
