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Did China substitute well for Afghanistan?
“Yes. Afghanis who have seen it are stunned by it. They are like, ‘How did you guys do this? We remember growing up and this could be Kabul.’”
Were there any language difficulties on the set?
“We had five translators on the set at any given time because there were so many languages going on, and we needed so many translations. It was at times funny, at times crazy, at times maddening. English had to be translated into Chinese, into the local dialect…it was insane!”
When you’re having to deal with so many things - shooting in China, language barriers, etc – does that get into your head at all or can you shut everything out once the cameras are rolling?
“Once they call ‘Action,’ it’s a weird thing. I don’t know if it’s easy, I don’t know if it’s experience, I don’t know what it is, but you just have to learn to focus in. You just have to forget everything else because I really give audiences a lot of credit. Audiences are smart. If you don’t believe what you’re selling, the audience is not going to buy it. So if you truly don’t get into the heart and soul of the character, and for that moment you don’t buy what you’re saying - you don’t believe the words, you don’t believe your actions, you don’t believe the way you’re moving - I don’t believe that the audience will buy it. The audience is smart. Like when I have to get older [in the film] and have 4 hours and 45 minutes of make-up, just make-up isn’t going to do it. I found that with Crash as well. It’s the way you walk. It’s your energy. It’s the way you move. It all changes.”
When I went to read the book [in a scene in the film], they gave me the book. It was an amazing experience for myself because they called ‘Action’ and there’s a phrase that I have to read that Amir writes for me, the dedication to his book. I opened the book and I looked at the dedication, and I said, ‘I can’t read this.’ And they were like, ‘What do you mean you can’t read this?’ I said, ‘I can’t see this. I need glasses.’ This was interesting because I could read it. I don’t need glasses. But I felt that there is no way that this man can read this small print. And I have no idea where that came from.”
