Hollywood Star In The Making: Maria Bakalova Went From Borat's Pretend Daughter Who Honey Trapped Rudy Giuliani To One Of The Heroes In The Final 'Guardians Of The Galaxy' Blockbuster

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I finally got a chance to see Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 the other night and my god did I have a blast. Such a breath of fresh air kind of movie based on the dumpster fire Marvel has offered us in the last few years. The soundtrack has been on repeat in my headphones since the ending credits rolled. LOVED 'The Mowgli's' getting in there with San Francisco. 

Quick aside: My movie theater experience at the local cinema was something else. Two encounters that had me nothing but rattled even before the film got going. 

1) As I entered the lobby and got ready to have the worker scan my ticket a couple in front of me decided to bring in two full bags of home-cooked dinner in tupperware they planned on eating at their seats. They showed up for an 11:00pm movie at 9:15pm. That alone was bananas, but the food move was preposterous. Zero intention of hiding or sneaking it by the employees there. Of course they were turned away.

2) After that fiasco I went to get some popcorn and soda, naturally. Upon doing so I headed towards the escalator to find my theater. A couple was in front of me and the guy proceeded on down normally. The woman stopped dead in her tracks just inches before the escalator began. She paused for about 5 seconds. I'm just standing there behind her wondering how my life is about to end. Something was afoot. After being stone still for what felt like an eternity she turned about face, staring at me, then moved past my confused frame and headed down the stairs. She shouted out to her friend that she was terrified of escalators. Good heavens, I'm just trying to see a movie folks. 

Okay back to the point of the blog, just yesterday I did a mini-deep dive into who played who in this movie and stumbled upon a stunner. 

Remember Maria Bakalova? She's the woman who honey-trapped Rudy Giuliani in that hotel room during Borat 2. 

Also the same woman who posed as a fake reporter and got past White House security. The incredible performance earned her an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress. A subsequent star was born before our very eyes. 

Fast forward to the present and she's voicing a prominent role in a blockbuster Marvel movie. Yes, that was her behind the very good dog that's Cosmo. 

Such a boop-able nose. 

I noticed some weirdo comic book people of course had a problem with Cosmo being a female and how it deterred from the original source material. Everyone always has something to say and can't let things be. James Gunn was in there fighting his battle in the trenches. 

Anyways, I'm always a fan of a come-up. We had Brie Larson going from the Au Pair in The League to the world's most powerful superhero, even if a good amount of people aren't a fan of her portrayal. Still cool!

Well, now we got Bakalova going from complete zero prior 2020 to the woman in Borat 2 to now one of the heroes in Guardians 3 and probably finding her way into plenty more roles moving forward. We love to see it. Maybe Hollywood ain't all that bad?

P.S. Karen Gillan who plays Nebula is so underrated