After more than a decade out of the limelight and away from his wardrobe of high-visibility, low-practicality clothing, Sacha Baron Cohen‘s Ali G is back with his first film in almost 25 years. This time, alongside the satirical would-be bad boy himself leading “Ali G: Who Iz I” comes his long-suffering girlfriend Julie (constantly referred to by Ali as “Me Julie”).
Played by British comic and impressionist Morgana Robinson, Julie is seen in the trailer to the film — released Oct. 23 by Amazon MGM — heavily pregnant while Ali first explains to a doctor that her bump is “probably wind or a big poo” and later with him as, when asked what type of father he wants to be, he replies “absent.”
For Robinson, who played Pippa Middleton in “The Windsors,” the experience making “Ali G: Who Iz I” was the most insane she’s ever had, one that required her, on the insistence of Cohen, to stay in character off set. “He was training me like Rocky,” she says. But for all the silliness of the film (Morgana claims it’s half-silly — ”laugh-out loud funny, but with a message”), “Ali G: Who Iz I” has also come under significant fire, accused of using outdated racist stereotypes and mocking the working class. In the U.K., there have also been calls for cinemas to boycott the film.
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Speaking to Variety, a wildly entertaining Morgana claims that Julie — who she describes as “the heart of the film” — is much more than what’s been seen in the trailer, adding that the “Who Iz I” actually takes aim at Ali G’s out-of-date views and attitude. But she also laughs about the shock and surprise of finding people in America who didn’t know Ali G and could be duped by the joke and reveals the real — and painful — struggles of trying not to laugh during each scene, because “there is no take two.”
How’s the “Ali G: Who Iz I” press tour been?
I’m in a bowl of jelly, to be honest. It is a bit knee-knocky. It’s on a rather grand scale, but it’s been amazing, especially on the red carpet and turning up in character.
Most carpets are quite serious affairs with serious questions. Was turning up as Julie and, I guess, ad lobbing a bit quite fun?
I find it a bit of a comfort. It’s like a very solid bra. I feel supported and not so exposed. They can look a bit serious, can’t they? And if you look a bit silly, it’s fine.
So how silly is this film?
It’s half-silly. It gets less silly as you go on. But it’s got all the feels. It’s outrageous. It’s very funny. It’s terrifying. It’s uncomfortable. It’s heartbreaking. It’s confusing. But it’s laugh out loud funny, but with a message.
We haven’t had Ali G on screens for a very long time. How does he rank to the Ali G of old?
He hasn’t changed particularly much, apart from you know his beard’s a bit longer. But how does he sit into today’s society? I think that’s sort of the reason they made this —what happens when you take a very dated character and drop him in into today’s society, into the world that we live in today that’s a very different place.
Does he manage to survive that?
I might let you wait and see. But what I will say is that I think a lot of questions have been asked, and I think they get answers.
So how did how did this film find you? How did you become Julie?
There was a very rigorous, full-on casting situation, and there were waves of auditions. There was like the first wave of auditions was a sort of like, “Hi, can you come in and have an improv with Sasha? Can you be funny? Can you go toe to toe with him? Can you hold your own?” And then the second, once you’ve passed that, was, “We throw you into the jaws of a shark with a with a real interview with a real person. Can you be believable?” I guess what they were looking for was a balance between someone who could be funny, but also someone who you know could feel real. Otherwise, I guess they don’t have a film. But I think it took them about a year to cast.
This film took us all by surprise when it was announced. So much must have been done in secret.
Oh yeah, I like the word ‘clandestine.’ It’s an odd it’s an odd fish, isn’t it? I mean, I’ve never done anything like this with real people. It was was crazy. Sometimes we were in the desert in Palm Springs. We stayed in these random hotels, all of us, but no one knew what we were doing there. So it was all sort of cloak and dagger and lying about what we were doing. You’d be doing makeup in your hotel room, and some days I’d come back and I’d have a bob and I’d be not pregnant. Then the next morning, I’d be eight months pregnant, walking out the lobby. Then I’d be in the bar having a glass of wine. And the concierge was just so confused.
Previous mockumentaries from Sasha, whether with Ali G or Borat or Bruno, have all relied on people not understanding that it’s a joke. But I’d be surprised if there’s anyone now who doesn’t know. Was it all scripted or were you actually meeting real people who had no idea that this was a joke?
Every single person, apart from me and him and the guy who plays his dad, are all real people. It think Borat is well known in America, but Ali G isn’t. But I think the people on the team scouted for people, and they had to pass a sort of certain test of who they know and what they know.
That must be quite some scouting. I’m really surprised that someone who’s not been cut off from the world for the last 20 years wouldn’t just see Ali G and know that a joke was coming a mile off. Was it a surprise to you that some people out there were still duped by it?
The whole thing is ridiculous. The whole thing is shocking and surprising. I don’t know where to begin. But the script was a constantly evolving thing. It wasn’t like, “Here is the script. You may read it.” It was like, “Here it is and it’s different from yesterday.” So you’re in your room waiting to come on set and 10 minutes before someone runs in going, “Hey Morgana, this has totally changed.” You’re like, “This is chaos. This is ludicrous. They’re never going to believe this. We can’t pull this off. This is impossible.” And I don’t know what happens, but [Cohen] sort of hypnotizes people. it’s like a magic trick.
Did you struggle not to laugh? Because obviously you can’t start again. You literally have to stay in character or the whole thing’s ruined, right?
There’s no take two. So that actually stops you from laughing a lot of the time. I did corpse twice in the entirety of filming. One was when I had to peel a banana with my toes, and the other one was something that happens later, but I don’t want to spoil it. So I did it twice, but I sort of managed to look away and stifle it. I bit so hard on my cheek. That’s one way of doing it. You can sometimes turn it into a cough. Or it can come out as a sort of twitch. But yes, it’s very hard.
And after each scene, are you and Sasha able to have a laugh or do you stay in character?
He will not let you break character. So we’re in character for eight hours. It’s exhausting. Normally, when you’re acting, you’re like, that was a very big take, is it lunch break? But here you’re eating lunch in character or whatever you’re doing because they’re watching. It’s wild. I remember when we first started filming, I hadn’t seen Sasha since the audition and I got to the lot to do the first rehearsals and talk and read the script. I was like, “Oh, hi Sasha, it’s Morgana, I haven’t seen you for six months.” And he’s like, “In character! All day I want you in character! I never want to hear you speaking as Morgana! It’s always me Julie!” Then he’d march me down to the mall and be like, “Go and have an argument with some people and buy some socks and then come back and then call up your mother and have a conversation as me Julie and eat that bento box as me Julie. How would she use chopsticks?” He’s mad.
So you were Julie constantly, if there was a camera on you or not?
He was training me like Rocky. All day long, running up and down those steps, all sweaty.
How then did it feel then at the end of all that to finally put Julie to bed?
I think I lost my marbles a little bit for a while, but I think I found them again. I think it’s sort of like sort of slow release PTSD. I can’t believe we fucking did that. I cannot believe that. I mean.. so I get kidnapped.
What?
Yeah, I get kidnapped. That’s an actual thing. That’s not even the bad bit. That’s just in the second act. I get kidnapped. But more happens.
What can you say?
I get my minge out. You’ll probably have to change that because no one knows what a minge is in America. So all these years, I’ve been doing these cute little cult things, like Vic and Bob, and no one’s watched it. Really, all you need to do is just go to Hollywood and get your fanny out. You know, I’m 44. I’ve got to pay the mortgage.
The last major thing that Sasha did was Borat 2, which obviously has that scene in a hotel room with Maria Bakalova and Rudy Giuliani. Does it reach those levels?
Yes, indeed.
But with well-known individuals who are going to be made to feel ashamed of their actions afterwards?
No, they’re not politicians. Not in my scenes anyway.
When the first trailer came out, there was a lot of noise – some good, some bad. There were quite a few negative comments with regards to the scenes with Julie, with a lot of people saying it was mocking working class women and was quite derogatory. What did you think when you know saw those comments?
I found it difficult. So I just stopped reading them entirely. People have their opinions, and that’s absolutely fine. I am a character actress and I play all sorts of people. I play every class, everything and so I feel like that’s what my job is. But think the hard things to read online was when they got really nasty.
I get it. But in terms of those claims about the film mocking the working class, is that something that you would remotely agree with?
I think she’s a well thought out character. She’s got heart. She’s got soul. She cares very much for her baby. She’s got amazing morals. She loves her family to pieces. She would die for them, as you will see. It’s not just one note. There’s more to her than what you see in the trailer. The film is much more layered. I think they probably designed the trailer a little bit to get people talking.
You said that the story is about dropping Ali G, this outdated character, in today’s world. There have also been accusations about him being this tired racist caricature. But it sounds like that’s actually part of the film — is that the case?
It’s sort of all about that, really.
How’s Sasha to work with?
He’s kind of like a giant kid who’s had too much sugarish. Sometimes it’s like trying to wrangle a hurricane. It’s chaos, but in a wonderful way and I think that shows in the work he makes. It’s just not normal, but it’s exciting, you know, and it’s interesting, and exhilarating and also terrifying. All those things. There’s so much adrenaline going around in your in your body. That’s his gift to you.
I always felt like in today’s world of social media and everybody knowing everything because it’s all been videoed and posted everywhere, you just couldn’t get away with this kind of stuff anymore. But the fact that they were able to find people that had no idea and keep that joke going is phenomenal.
I know it’s crazy. I think this will probably be the last one.
