Sacha Baron Cohen has credited Nathan Fielder with reinventing comedy as audiences know it. The praise arrived while Cohen was busy promoting Ali G: Who Iz I?, which reached theaters on October 23 and heads to Amazon Prime Video next. Fielder, meanwhile, has been the talk of Hollywood for weeks. A compliment from one of comedy’s most fearless pranksters rarely comes without a little twist, and this one is no exception.

While Fielder collects the flowers, Cohen politely points out who planted the garden, so the full compliment deserves a closer look.

Sacha Baron Cohen says Nathan Fielder reinvented the very genre that Cohen helped create. Fielder co-directed two episodes of Who Is America?, the 2018 Showtime series, and worked as a writer and consulting producer.

"He reinvented the genre that I suppose created or developed and he had a rule really which was to not do anything that I had done," Cohen told The Hollywood Reporter.

He then added, “But he’s a brilliant, brilliant mind, absolutely hilarious.”

Fielder’s style was already in place before Who Is America?, through Comedy Central’s Nathan for You, which he created and starred in from 2013 to 2017. He has since produced two seasons of HBO’s The Rehearsal and Showtime’s The Curse, and co-directed the Elizabeth Holmes documentary You Can See Everything. Cohen told The Hollywood Reporter that the documentary should be huge. Some predict it could become the first documentary nominated for Best Picture.

"Crazy Genius" - The Internet Has Already Given its Verdict on 'You Can See Everything'

While Fielder heads into awards season, Cohen has spent two decades circling a dream team-up with one very particular director.

Sacha Baron Cohen follows a personal rule with filmmakers he admires, which is to accept the project even if it instinctively feels wrong. Quentin Tarantino sits comfortably on that very short list, so the script barely needs to be read. The pair began discussing an adaptation of The Scarlet Pimpernel about 20 years ago, a story full of disguises that suits Cohen perfectly. Regular dinners followed after Borat arrived in 2006.

Django Unchained came closest to making the pairing official, at least on screen. Cohen nearly appeared opposite Kerry Washington, and a prosthetic chin had already been prepared to match the look Tarantino wanted. His Les Misérables schedule intervened, and the role vanished before cameras ever rolled. While that collaboration never came to fruition, Cohen has found another comedian whose work he admires, with Nathan Fielder earning his praise for taking the genre in a new direction.

“We Don't Feel Seen”— Sacha Baron Cohen Reveals How Marvel's Black Creative Team Made Him Feel Understood

What are your thoughts on Sacha Baron Cohen praising Nathan Fielder while chasing Quentin Tarantino? Let us know in the comments.