What To Know About Irina Novak, The Actress Rumored To Play Borat’s Daughter In 'Borat 2'
Meet Irina Novak!
YouTube and Everett Collection / Shutterstock Mark your calendars, folks, because there’s a new Borat film hitting Amazon Prime on Oct. 23.
The latest installment in the Borat franchise, Borat 2, is already looking like a doozy.
Sacha Baron Cohen obviously reprises his iconic role as the titular character in the upcoming film, but the actress who plays Borat’s daughter is pretty much a mystery.
Who plays Borat’s daughter?
That’s a loaded question, TBH, so I hope you’re ready to dive into the Borat rabbit hole.
Irina Novak is a well-known Ukrainian actress who is rumored to play the role of Borat’s 15-year-old daughter, whose character’s name is Sandra Jessica Parker Sagdiyev.
Originally, on the IMDb page for Borat 2, also referred to as Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, she was listed as one of the only cast members in the film.
However, her name suddenly disappeared from the cast list as of Oct. 21, and was replaced with Maria Bakalova, which we’ll address later.
Here’s where it gets interesting. There’s another IMDb page that lists a staggering amount of acting credits for Irina Novak, and while all of them are Ukrainian movies and TV shows, the latest credit of Novak’s is for her Borat character’s appearance on Oct. 19’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!
The actress appeared alongside Sacha Baron Cohen for a 15-minute segment on the late night talk show, and both her and Cohen gave their interviews in character.
Who is Maria Bakalova?
While this points to the fact that Novak might be the actress playing Borat’s daughter, many outlets are reporting that Bulgarian actress Maria Bakalova is the one who plays Borat’s daughter.
Bakalova is also the actress who’s rumored to be in THAT incriminating scene of the new film, starring none other than prominent Republican and President Trump’s attorney, Rudy Giuliani.
In the scene, Rudy Giuliani is interviewed by Borat’s 15-year-old daughter in a hotel room. She says she’s “nervous about speaking to one of her “greatest heroes,” to which Giuliani replies, “I’ll relax you.”
Bakalova then asks Giuliani, “A little bit about China — as an expert in national security, what do you think we can do to prevent this from happening again?” and, “How many lives did Donald Trump save?”
Giuliani replies, “China manufactured the virus,” and, “Probably one million.” Afterwards, he follows her into the hotel bedroom area for a drink, which is clearly a huge problem in and of itself, then lies down on the bed and puts his hands down his pants.
Giuliani described a run-in with Cohen’s Borat character during the interview back in July of this year, saying, “This guy comes running in, wearing a crazy, what I would say was a pink transgender outfit.”
“It was a pink bikini, with lace, underneath a translucent mesh top, it looked absurd,” he added. “He had the beard, bare legs, and wasn’t what I would call distractingly attractive.”
What is Maria Bakalova’s age?
Maria Bakalova was born on June 4, 1996, which makes her a 24-year-old Gemini.
Is Maria Bakalova on Instagram?
While there are multiple Maria Bakalova accounts on Instagram, it doesn’t look like any are of the Bulgarian-born actress.
So, who is actually playing the role of Borat’s daughter?
Honestly, it’s all so confusing, but does that surprise anyone? It’s Sacha Baron Cohen, so it’s to be expected that we’re probably all part of some bigger prank that will slowly start to reveal itself in the coming days.
Borat 2 premieres on Amazon Prime on Friday, Oct. 23.
Olivia Jakiel is an editor and writer who covers celebrity and entertainment news. Follow her on Instagram and keep up with her zingers on Twitter.