Skip to content
Sacha Baron Cohen

01 / Characters · 01 of 06

Ali G

A white kid from Staines who thinks he is the voice of the street, sent to interview the people who run the world.

1998 to 2007, and 2026

Sacha Baron Cohen as Ali G, in yellow tracksuit and tinted glasses.

02 / Character file

Staines Massiv · Identity card№ 0001
Full name
Alistair Leslie Graham
Nationality
British, from Staines / West Staines
Occupation
Interviewer, rapper, DJ and aspiring music personality; later MP and ambassador in the film. Leader of the West Staines Massiv
Partner
Julie (girlfriend)
Education
Matthew Arnold School
Ethnicity
White British
Status
Keepin' it real
Family
Grandma ("Nan")

03 / The character

Ali G is a white, suburban, middle-class kid from Staines who has adopted the clothes, slang and swagger of a hip-hop culture that is not his own, and that gap is the joke. The caricature is the wannabe, and the politicians, professors and police chiefs who sit opposite him and take him seriously.

The target

How willing powerful people are to indulge ignorance when a camera is on, and how rarely anyone in the room says "this is nonsense."

“The important thing about Ali G is that he's not black. And he is delusional, so he believes that he is a - you know, a black hip-hop artist from Staines, and you know, he believes that his neighborhood is a rough ghetto, when in fact it is this lovely, leafy middle-class suburb outside Windsor.”
Sacha Baron Cohen, Fresh Air, NPR, January 4, 2007.

04 / History

Ali G was the first character to break through, and the one that set the method. In a yellow tracksuit and tinted glasses, he was sent to interview politicians, generals, scientists and captains of industry, and the comedy came from the room: experts answering in good faith, nodding along, and trying to stay polite to a man who plainly had no idea what he was talking about.

The character earned a BAFTA, a feature film, a hit single with Shaggy, a run of NBA commercials directed by Spike Lee and a night hosting the MTV Europe Music Awards. In 2026 he returns in Ali G: Who Iz I?, the first feature Sacha Baron Cohen has directed.

Off camera he has a Nan, a girlfriend called Julie, a crew called the West Staines Massiv and, by the end of Ali G Indahouse, a seat in Parliament and an ambassadorship.

05 / Key works

  • 1998The 11 O'Clock ShowChannel 4. First appearances.
  • 2000Da Ali G ShowChannel 4, then HBO (2003 to 2004). BAFTA for Best Comedy Performance.
  • 2001MTV Europe Music AwardsHost, Frankfurt.
  • 2002Ali G IndahouseFeature film. Directed by Mark Mylod.
  • 2002Me Julie, with ShaggySingle and music video from the Ali G Indahouse soundtrack.
  • 2004Harvard Class Day addressAddressed the Harvard Class of 2004 in character.
  • 2005NBA on TNT commercials directed by Spike LeeAli G interviews NBA stars, including Kobe Bryant.
  • 2014Ali G: RezurectionFXX. Episodes re-presented with new links.
  • 2026Ali G: Who Iz I?Amazon MGM Studios. In theaters October 23, 2026.

06 / The reel

Watch Ali G

Official clips play here. Others open in a new tab.

07 / Sacha on Ali G

Sacha on Ali G

All statements →
  • NPR, Fresh Air with Terry Gross
    On who Ali G's interviews were aimed at
    “If you look at the Ali G show and you look at generally the people who I interview, they tend to be white, wealthy, powerful males, you know, in positions of extreme influence.”

    Source: npr.org

  • Fresh Air, NPR
    On who Ali G is
    “The important thing about Ali G is that he's not black. And he is delusional, so he believes that he is a - you know, a black hip-hop artist from Staines, and you know, he believes that his neighborhood is a rough ghetto, when in fact it is this lovely, leafy middle-class suburb outside Windsor.”

    Source: npr.org