Waris Dirie’s story is one of the most inspiring I have ever seen committed to celluloid and Liya Kebede’s performance as the refugee turned vagrant turned charity-case turned supermodel is one of the most remarkable debuts to grace the silver screen in decades.
Needless to say, despite being one of the more emotionally and culturally challenging films of the year, “Desert Flower” is also one of the most important.
With the biopic opening stateside today, I sat down with the model-turned-actress to talk about this moving film, why she felt an emotional connection to it from day one and what she hopes you take away from it.
PopWrap: “Desert Flower” was my first exposure to Waris’ story — in the modeling industry, is it well-known?
Liya Kebede: I didn’t know Waris’ story of even her as a model, really. Funnily enough, Iman had a party once – years ago – Waris was there and she stood out from the crowd. She came up to me — why, I don’t know – but we started chatting and when she left I remember having that feeling of “who was that woman?” [laughs] Fast-forward to me hearing about this project and at first, I didn’t even connect the dots – then I read the book and was blown away, such an incredible story, incredible woman and I really wanted to be a part of it.
PW: Was it a tough role to land?
Liya: It was. They auditioned everywhere. They saw tape of my audition and Sherry [Horman, the director] didn’t know who I was or that I had a history with modeling. We still joke about it because she says, “if I knew who you were before, I don’t know that I would have cast you” [laughs]. But there is a destiny feeling there because it felt so right to tell this story.
PW: Did you spend much time with Waris to prepare?
Liya: I didn’t — Sherry didn’t want us to meet. She wanted me to internalize the story because she wasn’t interested in doing a biopic, she wanted to tell a story of a young girl because this is the story of many, many young girls. But I met her the last day of the shoot and she actually called me after seeing the movie — we talked for three hours. Obviously it’s really difficult for her to watch because it’s a film, but to Waris, it’s her life. We had this really moving conversation — this film has tied us in more as women.
PW: Were you anxious about playing her?
Liya: Of course! I was really nervous and scared – any time you have to play a real person, it’s scary and challenging. It’s a huge responsibility. What if they don’t like you? [laughs] I kept thinking about how weird it would be to see someone playing me.
PW: You’ve been screening the movie for quite some time now — what kind of reactions are people having?
Liya: People who watch the film come out changed and touched and moved. That’s the thing about cinema – it can change the way you see something, or someone, instantly. Which is so wonderful. Sometimes you want to see a movie that doesn’t make you think and other times you want to think, and this movie does that – it’s entertaining, makes you laugh, but also makes you step back and say, “I should get involved.” That’s the reaction we were hoping for.
“Desert Flower” is now playing in NYC at The Angelika Film Center & City Cinemas click here for more details