Bruno at 10: Sacha Baron Cohen ‘wimped out’ of humiliating Australian leader

Hit mockumentary turns 10 this week

Brüno still ranks as one of Sacha Baron Cohen’s most controversial characters, 10 years on.

It’s a decade to the week that the creation’s big-screen outing was released in cinemas, which followed on from the immensely successful Borat (2006).

The mockumentary may not be short on cringe-inducing and jaw-dropping moments, it almost featured another scene that could have very possibly led to Cohen’s deportation from Australia.

In a Reddit AMA, the actor – most recently seen courting controversy in Who Is America? – revealed that he “wimped out” of humiliating the country’s Prime Minister during a chat show appearance.

“There was something that I regret not doing, which was, I was on this Australian late night talk show, and the talent booker had made a massive mistake,” he wrote. ”He booked the Australian Prime Minister on the same talk show. I was doing Brüno and I had a striptease routine fully planned, including tearaway pants and this g-string.”

He continued: ”My intention was to lap dance the Prime Minister of Australia, and stick my crotch in his face. It would have been an international incident, and probably would have got me barred from Australia. But, unfortunately, I wimped out of doing it, and eventually was also barred by his own security.”

The third film based on Cohen’s original characters following Ali G and Borat, Brüno follows the titular journalist who makes waves in the fashion scene. Upon its release in July 2009, the film – that had a modest budget of $40m – amassed global box office takings of $139m.

The actor recently revealed that the controversial Pamela Anderson “kidnapping” scene featured in his previous film Borat, had devastating repercussions for the Baywatch star’s marriage.