Hiam Abbass & Richard Jenkins

YR: I really enjoyed your performances in this film. Tell me how the project came to you! I hear you were both involved early.
Richard Jenkins: I think Hiam was there before I was.
Hiam Abbass: No he said you met already.

RJ: Oh ok. We knew each other but weren't friends. We had the same agent and were shooting two different films at one point but staying in the same hotel. So we went for dinner and chatted about different topics. So he started writing this character of Walter who wants to learn about this other world of Tariq and Mouna. He was a fan Hiam and wanted her for the project.
HA: My agent set a meeting with him but at the time I haven't seen his film. He said he had this idea and liked me as an actor and he shares his writing process with actors he likes.
RJ: He didn't say that to me.
HA: Because I'm a woman.
RJ: He must have been desperate.
HA: Funnily enough after two hours of talking about everything, he didn't tell me anything about the film. So I said goodbye and didn't know what make of it. Two days later he called me asking for another lunch. Again he was asking me all these questions like "What if this Arab woman. Not you. How would she react to this or that" His process of thinking was advancing that I didn't know about. Again that experience enriched the script. Three months later I got the script. Even at that time I wasn't sure what he wanted and told my agent what does he want from me. I'm not selling information.
RJ: A year after our initial dinner, I got this script and he told me he wrote this part for me and whether I wanted to do it. I read it and was blown by the incredible script. I said nobody would give you the money with me in the lead. He said that's not what I'm asking you. So I said of course I wanted to do it. I think he asked me about you (Hiam) whether I knew you or not.
HA: I think he had me in mind but I didn't know till much later.

YR: I think the characters are tailor made for both of you that's hard to imagine with other actors. Sometimes when a film is cast any actor could be cast but in this case it had a lot texture that was based on your characters.
HA: It's a great thing you are saying because we brought each much to the roles. We got to know much about each other being involved in the script than you would if you do a table reading. So we brought in more by knowing each other. So it was natural process that occured and some stuff in the film came from that like the bed scene.

YR: Was there a lot of improvisation?
HA: Well since we were involved in the script, we knew but certain issues would rise and Tom would say "Keep it in mind" and we would arrive to a solution on the day when we did the actual scene.

RJ: Well at the end of film she calls me "Habibi" which mean "beloved" but during the rehearsal she said wouldn't call me that because you don't call someone just like that. It's so personal and private word. The feeling must be incredible to say it. So I tell her you don't want call me that and she said I don't know. I said oh ok. So when she said that which was one of the last scenes we shot, I really was touched by it. So it was a process from beginning till the end. It was great.