In the West, controversial Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani is best known for her role opposite Leonardo Di Caprio in director Ridley Scott’s thriller Body Of Lies. Now, she’s all set to add more pages to her slim Hollywood catalogue.
“I will be working with Ridley Scott again. This time it’s a 3D film called Exodus,” said Farahani in an interview with tabloid! at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival.
“The project is a huge one for 20th Century Fox and like the title suggests it’s the story of an exodus. I am on the ancient Egyptian side. It’s a fascinating adventure for actors working in a 3D film,” said Farahani. The film, led by the Oscar-nominated director who has given us cult sci-fi classics such as Alien and Blade Runner, traces the exodus of the Jews from Egypt as directed by Moses and features Hollywood heavyweights Christian Bale and Joel Edgerton.
“We [Bale] didn’t have scenes together but I hung out with him. He’s a great actor and he’s really funny,” said Farahani. The 30-year-old actress, who is popular in the independent film circuit, says she adopts a cautious approaching when accepting Hollywood offers.
“Independent cinema is more thoughtful, delicate. While Western blockbusters can have their own kind of delicateness, it’s not delicate enough. You have to be ready to compromise to enter that field. I will do so only if it’s worth it,” said Farahani, adding that her sensibilities match with Scott’s. She may find films that are essentially fluff frustrating, but she’s always game to take on issue-based roles.
“The subjects that I am working are movies that say something. They are shouting or criticising something. I would hate to play a princess waiting for the prince to come and give her a kiss. A path should open itself because my mind won’t let me do projects that I feel I don’t belong to.” Her credentials boast strong female roles, including playing the caregiver to her husband who is in a coma in The Patience Stone.
She’s outspoken and has often courted trouble over her rebel act. After being exiled from Iran for misconduct (allegations against her are many: baring her right breast for a short video promoting the Cesars, the French equivalent of the Oscars; collaborating with Western filmmakers; not wearing a headscarf), she currently lives in Paris.
“I don’t regret anything and what I have done in my period of my life. Everything happens for a reason and that’s why I am here.” She brings her Kurdish drama My Sweet Pepperland, set against the backdrop of the post-Saddam Hussain regime, to ADFF, in which she plays a music teacher to kids in her village. Again, her on-screen family is against the idea, except her father, but she doesn’t bow down to pressures.
“In my life, my parents wanted me to be a musician, I was supposed to go to Vienna to study piano. But this train wanted to go in another direction,” said Farahani, with a laugh. She may have gone against her family’s wishes by not becoming a musician but she’s happy to see them in Abu Dhabi.
“It felt great to see all my brothers, sisters and fans. I feel as if I am right by Iran, like it’s just around the corner.” So is it frustrating knowing that she may never return?
“It’s that frustration that gives me a lot of power to do what I am doing. I am here for a reason and I can’t go back for a reason.”
