The Truth Behind That Pamela Anderson Kidnapping Scene In 'Borat'
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Featured image credit: Four By Two Films
Today is the 49th birthday of Baywatch super babe Pamela Anderson. Or, as many of you will know her, that actress who once did a sex tape.
Well, even that would be incorrect - she did two.
The most famous was with then husband Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee. The pair filmed their sexcapades on their honeymoon, having sex on a yacht.
The second was with another rock star, the lead singer of Poison, Bret Michaels. All in all, both were equally terrible.
Another of Anderson's more popular moments, which could actually be considered as her best onscreen role, was when she was kidnapped by Kazakh journalist Borat Sagdiyev.
The 2006 Sacha Baron Cohen film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan revolved around Sagdiyev chasing after Pamela in North American, after he'd watched an episode of Baywatch and fallen in love with her.
Reaching the climax of the film, Borat goes to a Virgin Megastore where he attempts to put Pam in a sack and kidnap her.
Because the majority of the film was all off the cuff, public stunts, people couldn't really work out whether Anderson was in on the kidnapping or not.
Since it's her birthday, it seems like a good enough reason to once again show you that scene, and then explain all the happenings behind it.
According to a number of sources, she was, of course, clued in.
The OC Weekly spoke to one of the security guards who was there during the event, and he said: "Yeah, the whole thing was planned. They made arrangements with us. Yeah, they told us what they would be doing.
"The thing in the store, the chase, all of it - it was supposed to look authentic, and we waited and waited for hours because it had to look real to get the effect they wanted."
At the time, the blonde bombshell told MTV: "I can't really say. I'm sworn to secrecy," regarding the reality of it all, but then went on to write on her website: "Of course Sasha and I planned this years ago. And it turned out perfect - I'm so happy for him."
Throughout the film, it's particularly amazing that Cohen got away with the amount of ludicrous things he did. There's a fairly interesting story about how he and the producers side stepped any lawsuits.
According to the BBC, most of the people involved in Borat's gags would be contacted by a woman calling herself Chelsea Barnard, who was from a fictional film company called 'One America Productions'.
The unsuspecting people would be told about the foreign correspondent making a film about life in the US (which is technically true), with the pitch tailored to each person's specialist subject.
Come the day of the filming of the segment, they would be presented with a release form at the last minute, be paid in cash and, finally, the Kazakh journalist would come clambering in, ready to fuck everything up.
Happy birthday Pamela, you have given young lads many happy times.
Words by Mark McGowan
Topics: Pamela Anderson
