Sacha Baron Cohen is "terrified of where our society is headed".

The 55-year-old comedy star has revived the character of Ali G, his buffoon alter-ego, and Sacha has explained that he sees his new movie as the best way to expose "extremism on both sides of the political spectrum".

The actor - who stars alongside Morgana Robinson in Ali G: Who Iz I? - told The Hollywood Reporter: "I'm terrified of where our society is headed, and the way I can comment on that is through my comedy. I wanted to show the extremism on both sides of the political spectrum and the danger of virtuous violence."

Sacha co-wrote the new movie with the help of Dan Mazer, his long-time friend, and Dan has hailed the comedy actor as the "Michael Jordan of this sort of filmmaking".

The writer added: "Michael Jordan went off and tried to play baseball, and you go, 'OK, you're a pretty good baseball player,' but he's not the Michael Jordan of baseball. And Sacha is the Michael Jordan of this, and to an extent, we all are.

"We invented this genre, and nobody else has matched what we've done."

Meanwhile, Sacha recently explained that he resurrected Ali G because the character is "outdated and problematic".

The actor wrote for Time magazine: "The fact that Ali G is outdated and problematic is the very reason I resurrected him.

"The world he's returned to is, in many ways, worse than the one he left 20 years ago. All the prejudices my characters are designed to expose haven't just lingered--they've metastasised. They're fuelled by the greatest propaganda machine in history--social media--and now by its monstrous child, AI."

Sacha observed that bigoted attitudes have "gone mainstream" since he last appeared as Ali G.

The comedy star - who is also known for playing the character of Borat - said: "Back when I first created Borat, it took a few minutes--or a few drinks--to get people to reveal the racism that often simmered below the surface.

"Now, those views have gone mainstream--whether it's fans hurling slurs and abuse at black players during the World Cup or hundreds of white nationalists marching through Washington, D.C., on July 4."