Maria Bakalova on Becoming Ivana Trump, That Controversial ‘Apprentice’ Rape Scene and Donald Trump’s Cease-and-Desist Letter
variety.comEthan Shanfeld The first time Maria Bakalova came to New York City, she had to flee. She was in disguise, shooting a scene for 2020’s “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” that put her alone in a hotel room with Rudy Giuliani.
The former mayor touched her midsection and reached down his pants — and then Sacha Baron Cohen burst into the room wearing a wig and lingerie.
Giuliani called the police, and Bakalova and Baron Cohen sprinted down Broadway and escaped to Romania to finish the movie. “We did the scene, and immediately after, police cars started chasing us,” Bakalova remembers. “I was scared I might end up in jail.” The second time she came to the city, in December 2021, she attended a screening of her A24 movie “Bodies Bodies Bodies” and brought COVID back with her to Los Angeles, where she lives — an unwelcome souvenir that forced her to miss Christmas with her family in Bulgaria.
The third time, a few months later, Bakalova visited New York for a meeting. Her purse, containing her passport and visa, was swiped from her chair at a restaurant.
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