During the Phoenix Film Festival, actor Haaz Sleiman and director Thomas McCarthy stopped in the Valley to screen their new film, "The Visitor."
It's a story about a college professor, Walter (played by Richard Jenkins) rediscovering his passion for life through music after befriending a young couple, Tarek (Haaz Sleiman) and Zainab (Danai Jekesai Gurira).
Life becomes complicated for Tarek once the authorities discover that he is an illegal immigrant.
The State Press had the opportunity to sit down with Haaz and Thomas to talk about their new film.
STATE PRESS: Haaz, you play the drum in the film. Are you musical in real life?
HAAZ SLEIMAN: I used to sing. Funny enough, I had a similar path as Tarek. He moves from Syria to Michigan and Michigan to New York. I moved from Lebanon to Michigan and Michigan to New York to pursue singing.
But, I've never drummed in my life. I had to practice every day for a month and half about 3 hours a day until my hands fell off.
It was great. One of those things about being an actor — you can do things that you never (get a chance) to do.
STATE PRESS: How did you transition into acting (from singing)?
HAAZ SLEIMAN: It came to a point in my life where I was pursuing singing and some point, I was not really doing it for the right reasons.
From that point, I figured I would pursue acting. It's always something that I wanted to do.
Actually, now that I'm an actor, I think I can be a better singer. With singing, you write about yourself and your experiences, and in acting you have to work on a character and be selfless.
I realized in acting, you have to be selfless and have compassion for the characters that you play.
It sounds cheesy, but (acting) made me a better person.
STATE PRESS: Thomas, in "The Station Agent" and in this film, there are affluent characters befriending people who were less affluent in both movies. Where does that come from?
THOMAS McCARTHY: Ah, I never thought about it that way.
I don't (think) that Walter is particularly affluent. I would say he is pretty solid middle class. He makes a good living, but I would consider him wealthy, necessarily.
For me, it's all from my experience. It's not such a class-conscience society.
I think that for them to connect, especially in New York, you have people who are scrapping to get by (and hanging with) people who are very wealthy.
It's just an extension of my reality.
STATE PRESS: In the movie, Walter wasn't particularly happy with his job. Were there any personal experiences you had that you threw into Walter's character?
THOMAS McCARTHY: I think there are a lot of people like (Walter). Sometimes I use my work as an excuse not to connect (with people), even if I'm not really working.
I'm writing so (an excuse I can use is), "I don't have time, I've got deadlines."
That's the thing about being a writer. No one really ever knows where you are at (with your writing).
STATE PRESS: Tarek was teaching Walter how to play the drums for the first time.
What was that scene like?
HAAZ SLEIMAN: Richard (Walter) actually knew how to drum more than I did and it was a challenge to make it look like I knew how to drum for 20 years.
(I had to trust the editors) to make it look like I knew what I was doing.
STATE PRESS: Have you in your real life felt like you were profiled?
HAAZ SLEIMAN: The closest I had when I had to submit some paperwork for my green card and I had a deadline for that.
So, I was held in the federal building in New York and I was in a cell-like room. There were aluminum-foil sandwiches and blankets, and it just looked like I was going to be there for a while.
No one explains anything to you or tells you what is going on.
Finally, at the end of the day, someone came up and said, "Sorry, there was a miscommunication, and we misunderstood the situation. We looked at your file and everything seems to be OK."
That was the closest, but I can only imagine the guys that are detained for a couple of months or a couple of years that have no legal access, no information whatsoever that's going on.
STATE PRESS: What do you want people to take away from this movie?
THOMAS McCARTHY: I never want to tell or dictate what people should or even suggest (take away from my movie).
I want people to see the movie because it's worthwhile.
I think that's the beauty of a movie like this … to experience an original story.
It has compelling characters and story lines, and half the fun is not knowing where it's going to go, I think.
STATE PRESS: There is a detention center in Queens in the movie. Are there detention centers like that in real life?
THOMAS McCARTHY: (Yes,) that's exactly what you see.
My production designer (visited) the facility with me. We took copious notes and made many sketches. What you see is what you get.
STATE PRESS: Haaz, you worked on the television show "24." How is working on "The Visitor" different?
HAAZ SLEIMAN: "24" is a good show and definitely rewarding, but working on "The Vistor" is a whole other level for me.
Tarek is (a) really rich character and multi-dimensional.
In "24," there was not much space to do that because the plot is more important than the character.
In "The Visitor," it's really the characters that are important to drive the story.
For an actor, that's the best part of it and working on (this film) has been the most fulfilling experience for me, ever.
I think it's exciting to play a character that's threatening ("24"), but also play a character (like) Tarek that's really likable and approachable and passionate.
It's nice.
It's important to show Middle Eastern people in that light.
I think it's been so lopsided how Muslim men are portrayed and so I think it's important to kind of bring a balance to that.
Reach the reporter at: jeffrey.mitchell@asu.edu.
