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'Borat 2' star Maria Bakalova made herself smell terrible for her audition

Watch: Borat Subsequent Moviefilm trailer

Maria Bakalova, the breakout star of Borat's Subsequent Moviefilm, undertook some deep method techniques to snare her role as Tutar, Borat's teenage daughter.

The mostly unproven Bulgarian-born actor underwent a number of screen tests before being given the role, the first being with Sacha Baron Cohen.

However, for the third test, which was not with Cohen, but with strangers, Bakalova very much went the extra mile, on the advice of the movie's production team.

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (Credit: Amazon)
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (Credit: Amazon)

Speaking to Collider, she said: “I remember that some of [the production team] advised me, 'Don't be clean, don't prepare yourself to look pretty or to be glam or something. Try to not take [a] shower.'

“And I was like, 'Oh, okay, I mean I'm ready for it, but I'm in the middle of another production, so it's gonna be devastating for the rest of the crew in the movie that I was shooting.' So I made something super smelly, stinky with banana peels, old eggs, vinegar, old olive oil, onions.

Read more: Sacha Baron Cohen won’t be playing Borat again

“And I mixed it and it was probably the worst smell that you can ever imagine. And I put it all over me, and I started hugging and touching people for [goodbyes], and they were like, 'Okay, this is not an actor, for sure.' So that was probably the last audition that I went [on], and it was maybe two weeks before I came to America and we started shooting this crazy, beautiful roller-coaster.”

Now that's commitment to the audition process.

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (Credit: Amazon)
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (Credit: Amazon)

Bakalova provided all of the heart in the second Borat, as the naïve Tutar, not to mention being put in a hair-raising situation with Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudi Giuliani.

Speaking about his co-star's performance, Cohen has said it would be ' travesty' if she didn't win an Oscar.

“She’s an incredible actor,” he told Good Morning America. “We interviewed 600 young women from all around the world and she’s hilarious.

“She is one of the most courageous actors in history. If she doesn't get nominated for an Oscar then that's a travesty.

“She's hilarious, and she has the capacity to deliver a scene and make you cry, which is what finally got her the part. When we did the break-up scene in the movie, I had to stop it. I found myself getting quite emotional.”

Watch: Sacha Baron Cohen has retired Borat