I dedicate every single award to all the eastern European actors who can recognise themselves in me, because we’re from this region that hasn’t been … - Maria Bakalova

I want to work on projects that are going to have strong messages, that are going to document the times that we’re living in. Our movie is a comedy, it’s a really strong satirical movie, but behind all the silliness, behind all the jokes, there are some really important messages about equality, about how we should support each other more and how we are all equals. It’s something interesting about the arts. We have a certain amount of time on this planet, on this Earth, as human beings, but the art somehow stays forever.

The moment when they announced it, it was literally a blackout. I couldn’t start jumping or crying or screaming, nothing, a blackout for a second. And then 30 minutes later, I realized it is actually happening, is this possible to happen? It’s still like a dream, it’s still like a fairytale, and it’s something I will always be grateful for Sacha [Baron Cohen] and this part that I have been given.

Rudy Giuliani actually did call the police. But we did nothing illegal. So we left the place together… and we were happy! It’s like a family moment.