Abhiroop Das
Helmed by Sacha Baron Cohen, ‘Ali G: Who Iz I?’ is a 2026 mockumentary comedy that follows the titular British hip-hop enthusiast who became a worldwide phenomenon with projects like ‘Da Ali G Show.’ Two decades on, however, his ways of living on the edge and with no plans for the future seem to have taken a visible toll. Largely unemployed and creatively bankrupt, Ali G hopelessly attempts to reclaim his former glory upon learning that his girlfriend is eight weeks pregnant. However, in a sociopolitical climate that has shifted drastically, all of his attempts to find his footing seemingly end in disaster, attracting all sorts of eccentric people into the fold. One such figure is Colonel Erran Morad, a former Mossad specialist, and many might not realize that it’s Cohen himself who essays the role.
Sacha Baron Cohen Uses a Prosthetic Head and a Fat Suit to Play Erran Morad
For his role as Colonel Erran Morad in ‘Ali G: Who Iz I?,’ Sacha Baron Cohen uses extensive prosthetics and makeup, resulting in a look that makes him practically unrecognizable. This is important because he is also playing the main character of the film, the titular Ali G, who is meant to be an entirely separate narrative presence. There are a handful of scenes where both characters occupy the same screen, which made for a colossal creative effort during the filming process, especially from Cohen himself. Given Morad’s background as a former Mossad agent, just facial touch-ups aren’t convincing enough, and the actor thus relies on a complete physical transformation, altering his entire frame.
In an interview with Fox News, Cohen confirmed that he was wearing “a prosthetic head in a fat suit” while playing Morad before switching into Ali G.He also revealed elsewhere that the production had been working on these prosthetic pieces for years, with a specialized animatronics team helping out in the process. Given Cohen’s long history of transforming into completely new characters with elaborate makeup and prosthetics, be it Billy Wayne Ruddick Jr., Gio Monaldo, and Rick Sherman in ‘Who is America,’ or Donald Trump in ‘Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,’ it makes sense for him to step into the role of Morad so effortlessly. The actual transformation, however, likely came with its fair share of challenges.
Erran Morad’s Character Design Can be Traced Back to an Older Sacha Baron Cohen Show
To convincingly create the look of a Mossad agent with a long, violent history, Sacha Baron Cohen and his creative team had to buff up the character design by quite a bit. This can be seen in his broad jaw, shaved head, thick eyebrows, and the distinctive scar running through his left eyebrow. Interestingly enough, ‘Ali G: What Iz I?’ is not our first introduction to Erran Morad, as he also appears as a character in ‘What is America,’ carrying broadly the same look. In a 2019 interview with Variety for its Actors on Actors series, Cohen explained that the prosthetics for Morad involved putting on “an entirely new head,” describing the application as “layers and layers and layers and layers.” The same is likely true for how he is dressed up in the ‘Ali G’ movie, with the added touch of aging up Morad’s character by many years.
In his older interview, Cohen revealed that he would start getting ready at 3:30 a.m., spending approximately five to six hours in makeup before filming. Following that, the prosthetics removal process took another hour, often leaving the actor sweating as the layers went off. A similar method is also adopted by the makeup team of ‘Ali G: What Iz I,’ with Cohen noting that the transformation took about 5 hours every day of shooting. To top it off, he also made use of a body suit to give the illusion of the character being taller and bulkier. For the scenes where Morad and Ali G come face-to-face, the team likely relied on a range of techniques, be it body doubles or split-screen filming, to make this ingenious blend of practical effects work.
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