The Iranian actress of indie cinema becomes a force on screen amid the fall TV slate.
Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani never wanted to do television.
She “refused” to, as she says.
Golshifteh Farahani in ‘Invasion’.Credit: Apple TV +
The show felt almost like providence, as Farahani views all her past roles.
“It was so powerful, so strong,” she says.
Then, the invasion happens, and this housewife transitions into beast mode to protect her loved ones.
Golshifteh Farahani at the Marrakech International Film Festival.Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images
EW spoke with Farahani over the phone from Spain about this must-watch title of the fall TV slate.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: I remember you mentioning on Instagram how excited you were to share the trailer forInvasionalone.
What excites you about this project?
What’s most exciting aboutInvasionis it’s a mega-production happening all over the world.
It’s a metaphor.
We’re not safe, even in space.
I watched three episodes and I couldn’t sleep.
I had so much adrenaline in my system.
It’s gonna be a little cosmic rollercoaster of a show.
I’ll never forget the days March 11, 12, 13 when the pandemic really hit New York.
We were shooting the scenes where the supermarkets were empty, people were carrying dead bodies.
When I came back to Union Square, I went to Whole Foods and the supermarket was empty.
Reality and the show were merging.
My subconscious and conscious were so confused at that time.
It wasn’t easy.
But it’s probably the most remarkable work of my life.
It’s so much effort and evolution.
On this shooting, so many things changed in the world, in me, even in the character.
We were all trying to somehow find ways [to survive].
It was very big and emotional when we finished the first season.
It felt like a lifetime.
It was long and full of memories.
Did you have expectations coming into this show about what it would be like?
I was quite alien to the world of [TV] series because I wasn’t watching many series.
I was refusing to be in series.
It was so powerful, so strong.
The character was incredibly important.
I was very touched and flattered to be proposed this part with no question or nothing.
But I walked in like a child.
They needed to have meetings to explain to me what it is to be on a series.
I had no idea, coming from the world of pure cinema.
No matter how big or small the movie would be, the series is another world.
Something opened up in the window of my life.
How did this role come to you?
That you should ask the stars in the universe.
I have no idea.
I somehow belong to that independent side in this world of cinema.
It was a proposition.
It wasn’t an audition.
I’m horrible at auditioning.
And also, instinctively, I knew it was happening.
It’s a mystery to me.
Working with [director] Jim Jarmusch [onPatersonwith Adam Driver] was a mystery to me.
How these things happen, I have no idea.
Was there a moment where you felt like you really understood who your character Aneesha was?
I think it happened quite fast.
I only launch the door for the character to come in.
And the world is collapsing at the same time.
Gradually, in every episode, she was showing different sides of her to me.
Also, the show was evolving, she was evolving, everything gets worse and worse.
Just before we started, I asked myself, “What are you going to do?”
I knew [the character] was gonna come, it’s gonna happen.
And sometimes I was surprised because things were unpredictable.The intensity of the scenes were helping a lot.
I was trying to be in the moment and not destroy her by myself.
Let the character be in me, come to me.
It was extraordinary how it was flowing in me.
You talk about the intensity ofInvasion.
Was this a particularly demanding show, physically?
It was a very intense shoot.
I had bruises all over me, all the time.
When the bruises were getting better, new bruises would appear.
I was so taken by [Aneesha] and the whole show.
I was so safe in the hands of directors and the whole production.
It was actually a very sweet difficulty.
There was a lot of satisfaction.
It seems all of these disparate characters were chosen for specific reasons to tell the story ofInvasion.
What is unique about Aneesha?
The spectrum of where she starts and where she goes is very large.
Her evolution is very sudden.
She has to switch from west to east, or North Pole to South Pole.
