Sacha Baron Cohen feared for his life during two Borat movie stunts

Sacha Baron Cohen has revealed the shocking stunt he pulled during a cage match that saw the crowd turn on him and left him fearing for his life. Photo / Getty Images

Sacha Baron Cohen has opened up about two dangerous stunts that left him fearing for his life.

The comedian, best known for his characters Borat, Bruno and Ali G, detailed the stunts during an op-ed for Time Magazine titled 'We Must Save Democracy From Conspiracies'.

The first stunt took place in Arkansas when Baron Cohen posed as an ultimate fighter at a cage match and challenged anyone in the audience to take him on.

Sacha Baron Cohen's dangerous cage fight stunt. Photo / YouTube

"When my fake ex-boyfriend volunteered, we engaged in some heavy petting, triggering a near riot," he wrote in Time. "The crowd — including some recently paroled prisoners with swastika tattoos — erupted in homophobic slurs and started hurling metal chairs at us.

"Had I not ducked into a trapdoor and out an escape tunnel, I think the crowd would have beaten me senseless."

The second stunt was one that Baron Cohen filmed this year for the Borat sequel which is set to be released on Amazon Prime Video on October 23.

"I showed up as a right-wing singer at a gun-rights rally in Washington State," Baron Cohen recalled. "When organisers finally stormed the stage, I rushed to a nearby getaway vehicle.

"An angry crowd blocked our way and started pounding on the vehicle with their fists. Under my overalls, I was wearing a bulletproof vest, but it felt inadequate with some people outside toting semiautomatic weapons.

"When someone ripped open the door to drag me out, I used my entire body weight to pull the door back shut until our vehicle manoeuvred free."

Baron Cohen wrote that he was "fortunate to make it out in one piece".

In his Time op-ed, the comedian wrote that he was "truly terrified for the survival of democracy itself" due to "a flood of hate, lies and conspiracies spewed by demagogues and spread by social media".