Review Fix: So you mentioned you had two small roles in films, how did you find working on the set of the “Good Shepherd†and “Lord of War†as opposed to “Desert Flower�
Liya Kebede: It makes all the difference when you are the lead role, you are on set all of the time, and before this I didn’t experience that. You have these small roles so a lot of it is waiting, and you are also going in and out of something, it’s not the same kind of involvement in something. This is like you’re there, going through the process, moving forward with it, evolving with it.
RF: Did it help you, coming from your work on the other films?
Kebede: Yes definitely, it helped a lot that I knew the process somewhat.
RF: With your connections to Waris (because you have a lot of parallels to her life) did you find anything you were disconnected to; something about her life, background or experiences?
Kebede: I mean, on the surface we have parallels; we are both coming from Africa going to the West, so that experience I can relate to, and going into fashion, I know that well. Also, she is a Goodwill Ambassador to the UN and I do that too. So that is kind of the surface…but going inside there are a lot of things I had to learn from her, because we started shooting in Africa first, we were in Jubuti to do the Somalia part- it is very close so that it is similar people, so seeing even what nomadic means, it’s hard to understand when you’re reading what it means versus being there and seeing them. This is where she came from, there’s nothing there, there’s no water, there’s nothing. And being in that environment was a new thing for me, and then trying to understand how you go from that to become this incredible woman, and she was never really a victim of her circumstances. It’s amazingly empowering to think that you come from nothing, where the world is completely different from here. Also dealing with the female circumcision topic, going through that and experiencing the topic for the first time, and what it meant to be alone with that. It was an incredible opportunity for me as a role because it had so many things in it that fed me.
RF: On the topic of female circumcision, do you think the film sheds new light on the issue for the public since Waris first raised awareness to it in the ’90s?
Kebede: I think that when you see this film you will connect more to it, it’s not something that happens; it’s all of a sudden a woman you know so you will understand it differently. You will also understand the impact it has on her life every day, it’s not something that happens once and then is gone. It does to these young girls, it affects them throughout their life and they have pain throughout their lives. I think it will raise the awareness of the issue again. Also what’s interesting is now in the Western countries immigrant families are doing it (female circumcision), New York, everywhere.
RF: I don’t think that many people are aware of that.
Kebede: No they aren’t. I think it addresses it, that’s not the story, but in the end it will give you statistics about this which will be news to people as well. I think it will move you and make people think about the issue again.
RF: What do you think the film says about the modeling industry, if anything?
Kebede: The thing that’s interesting with this film is that because it deals with a very tragic circumstance, there’s a lot of comedy in it, which helps make it watchable. You can’t watch something that’s dark all the time; you can’t sit through two hours of that. The thing is when it’s painful, it’s really painful, and then it is super light and funny, so it gives you a little moment to take a breather. The fashion is kind of put in that place; it’s funny and light. Juliet Stevenson plays the agent (Lucinda), and she’s fantastic, she was amazing to work with, having someone like her on set for all of us was kind of incredible.
RF: Lastly, who is your favorite designer?
Kebede: That’s a hard one, I have many. I don’t wear just one, even if I have the choice to wear just one I wouldn’t …usually there’s a list.
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