Ali G (Alistair Graham) is a gang member of the "West Staines Massiv", and lives with his grandmother in a semidetached house at 36 Cherry Blossom Close, in the heart of the "Staines Ghetto". He was educated at what he calls "da Matthew Arnold Skool" which is a real secondary school in Staines. Staines is a middle-class town to the west of London that has been the butt of jokes for many years, and is far different from the inner city ghetto that Ali G claims. Just the same, he purports to exemplify gangsta culture.

Source

Borat was born in 1972 in Kuçzek, Kazakhstan. He is the son of Asimbala Sagdiyev and Boltok the Rapist, who is also his maternal grandfather. He is also the former husband of Oksana Sagdiyev, who was the daughter of Mariam Tuyakbay and Boltok the Rapist. His relationship with his mother seems to be unpleasant, and Borat has commented that "she wishes she was raped by another man."

Borat has a sister named Natalya, regarded as the fourth-best prostitute in Kazakhstan (and best sex-in-mouth), with whom he often fornicates. He also has a younger brother named Bilo, who is mentally retarded and must be kept locked behind a metal door or in a cage. Bilo also has a pouch were he stores all the porno he looks at inside. In an interview, Borat said, "My brother Bilo has a small head but very strong arms. He have 204 teeth (193 in mouth 11 in nose)! You can do anything to him - he do not remember nothing! He is a sex crazy ... all day long he in his cage look on porno & rub rub rub!"[2]

He has been married several times, once to his half-sister's plough. His first wife was Oksana Sagdiyev, another half-sister. She was shot and killed by neighbour Nursultan Tuyakbay, who mistook her for a bear, while accompanying her brother-in-law Bilo on a walk in the forest. Borat was largely unaffected by this event and even celebrated it, as he was able to buy a new wife who he claimed was not boring. He maintains extramarital relations with a girlfriend, a mistress, and at least one prostitute.

He has three children: 12-year-old Bilak, 12 year-old Biram (whose mother is Borat's sister, Natalya), and 13 year-old Hooeylewis (his favorite child); and 17 grandchildren.

Source

Bruno is a 6 foot, 3 inch white male with a thin build, brown hair and brown eyes. His hair is clipped short all over but for an about four inches long faux-hawk and the top of which is bleached blonde. Bruno dresses in a flamboyant and garish style. He often wears lace-up shirts with cut-off sleeves, studded accessories such as belts or bracelets, and piercings, such as one in his left eyebrow. His signature outfit combines these elements against a main theme of blue denim. Bruno speaks with a faux-German accent, often substituting "w" sounds with "v" and "s" sounds with "sch". His voice is high for a male. He boldly carries a positive attitude, often commending his interviewees with lines like "that's great" following their comments.

Brüno asks the subjects to answer 'yes or no' questions with either "Vassap" for yes, or "Ich Don't Think So" for no, or on their opinions "achya" or "nicht nicht."

Source

With Ali G, the interview requests come from a fake British production company (United World Productions). And until just before the cameras roll, the interviewee is under the impression that the clean-cut, well-dressed director is going to do the interview and the baggy-clothed, wraparound-shades-wearing character carrying equipment is just part of the crew.

For the Borat film and TV segments, on the other hand, subjects are told that the crew is shooting a documentary intended for Kazakhstan television. Much to the surprise of producers, celebrities and politicians are willing to do such an obscure interview and, once on camera, are eager to please.

Because Da Ali G Show had run already for two seasons on HBO, most of the Borat movie had to be shot in areas of the Deep South with minimal cable penetration. As an extra precaution, during the pre-interview, researchers made sure subjects hadn't heard of Baron Cohen. For a final safety measure, a lawyer was kept on retainer. Before each scene, producers would tell her what they planned to do, and she'd let them know where the boundary between comedy and criminality lies.

Once on site, the first order of business is to get subjects to sign releases, which are worded vaguely and omit the actual name of the media outlet where the show will air. In the case of scenes shot in public, passers-by are given releases before entering the area. "We'd have someone in the lobby of a hotel with release forms," Borat director Larry Charles, who previously directed Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm, recalls of one scene. (Full disclosure: Charles is slated to direct the film version of a book I wrote, The Dirt.) "We'd tell people we were shooting today and they may be in the background of a shot. Then they'd get in the elevator and, boom, two naked guys would come running in."

As Ali G, just before the interviews begin, Baron Cohen emerges and asks his subjects really stupid questions (like spelling simple words, how to pronounce their names, how to write particular letters in the alphabet) so that they get accustomed to his idiocy. Then, once the cameras start rolling and he begins asking actual interview questions, they realize that the person they've been talking to is not a crew member doing a pre-interview but the actual show host.

Though what airs on television is just a four-minute clip, Ali G spends some fifteen minutes warming his subjects up with straightforward questions. Once any lingering doubt has been banished, he sticks the knife in and starts asking ridiculous questions like, "What is the type of acid that actually makes you fly?" and "But what harm has violence ever done?"

As Borat, Baron Cohen tests his subjects differently. First, he'll often give them a Kazakh cigarette or do something else to prove his authenticity. Occasionally, he'll start the interview by giving them a gift -- a tin of fish, a bag of cookies or an over-affectionate kiss. He watches as they accept the gift (or decline it), and the manner in which they do so lets him know how far they're willing to go. In the case of right-wing activist Alan Keyes, the gift was identified as the rib of a Jew. Keyes accepted the gift with the words, "Thank you very much." However, as it dawned on him what he'd just done on camera, he freaked out, tore his microphone off and stormed out of the room. Producers were able to bring him back into the interview by saying there had been a misunderstanding and Borat had said a "dew's rib," as in a rib of the morning dew, which may not have made any more sense to Keyes but at least it couldn't ruin his political career.

Once each interview ends, the charade is not over. Whether playing Ali G, Borat or Bruno (a gay fashion reporter from Austria), Baron Cohen remains in character from the moment he leaves his hotel until the crew wraps. This sometimes means leading production meetings in character. "He and I had some heated discussions, the way a director and actor might, but he'd be chastising me as Borat," Larry Charles recalls. "I'd be standing in the middle of a cotton field in Louisiana being yelled at by Borat."

Source