Tom McCarthy and Haaz Sleiman Bring The Visitor To The Atlanta Film Festival

Actor/writer/director Tom McCarthy made a splash in 2003 with his indie hit The Station Agent.  McCarthy has appeared in films like Michael Clayton and Syriana, and TV shows like The Wire and Boston Public.  His latest writing/directing project is The Visitor, starring Richard Jenkins as Walter, a jaded economist who befriends Tarek (Haaz Sleiman), an illegal immigrant under threat of deportation back to Syria.  Newcomer Danai Gurira stars as Tarek’s girlfriend Zainab.  Israeli Arab actress Hiam Abbass plays Tarek’s distraught mother.  We spoke to McCarthy and Sleiman during the Atlanta Film Festival.

Station Agent was a critical and popular success.  Did you worry about the sophomore jinx?

McCarthy: It didn’t really occur to me until everybody started writing about it in their reviews of The Visitor.  Luckily most of them thought I avoided that, which was nice to hear.  I was more concerned with trying to tell an original story; something to challenge myself. 

Haaz, public perception is that for Middle Eastern actors, there are two kinds of roles: terrorists and corrupt oil sheiks.  Do you find this to be the case?

Sleiman: Listen, there are a lot of terrorist roles out there.  That’s a reality of where we are now.  Unfortunately a lot of studios feel like that’s where the money is.  It’s often uninspiring that that’s the case, but they’re also opportunities that wouldn’t have been available otherwise.  But there are roles out there that aren’t political.  Middle Easterners are blending in - they are Americans.  No actor wants to be stereotyped.  Even white actors can be pigeonholed. 

How did you prepare for the role of Tarek (who is neither a terrorist nor a sheik)?

Sleiman:  There were a lot of similarities between me and Tarek.  We have similar pasts and experiences.  He came from Syria to Michigan to New York.  I did the same thing but I came from Lebanon.  I had to work on the Syrian dialect, which is different; I spoke to a lot of Syrians over in Lebanon.

Richard Jenkins is fascinating to watch as the terse Walter.

McCarthy: Walter’s a guy who only speaks when he has to.  He’s trying not to become too involved with anything or anybody.   Richard is a very experienced actor.  He found out who Walter was, physically and emotionally.  You can see it happening, even when he’s not talking.  Some of his best moments, I think, are when he’s silent. 

The music of the late Nigerian musician Fela Kuti figures prominently in The Visitor. 

McCarthy: I discovered his music while I was writing this movie. There was something I found immediately appealing about it.  If you talk about Afro-beat music, Fela Kuti is The Beatles of Africa.  The man was a genius and incredibly prolific.  I liked the idea of Walter sitting in his quiet Connecticut house and cranking Fela.

Sleiman: I had never heard of him so I had to do a lot of research.  He was quite amazing.  He’s a pop icon [in Africa].  He was politically active and voiced his opinions against corruption in government, so he was always a target.  I watched a documentary about him, in which he was smoking weed and rehearsing in his briefs with this twenty-person band.  That’s when I called Tom and said “You know, I think Tarek rehearses in his underwear!” 

You actually learned to play African drum for this film.

Sleiman:  Yeah, I learned from scratch.  I practiced three hours a day for a month and a half.  It was a lot of work, but it was really exciting.  I learned from a man named Mohammed Ali in New York and a Senegalese gentleman in L.A.  Those guys were so great.  They let me share their food and meet their families.  There was something really lovely about that that I wanted to bring to Tarek. 

Hiam Abbass is a veteran actress but new to American audiences.  She plays a vulnerable character who nonetheless has great screen presence.

McCarthy:  She has a lot of integrity.  There’s a power and depth to her that can be…intimidating is not a bad word for it.  She comes into the movie late, so I needed an actress who could command the audience’s attention.  We connected very quickly, although once in a blue moon I’d say something in English that she didn’t quite understand.  I’d say “We need to dial that down a bit” and she’d be like “What?  I’m not dialing…”  But that was rare – she speaks like five languages, so our little English bumps were nothing. 

This is Danai Gurira’s first film role, one that demanded an intense romantic relationship with Tarek.

Sleiman:  You should see what we did off-screen. [Laughs] 

McCarthy: And on screen.  We just didn’t use it.  The lost love scenes…

Sleiman:  Yeah.  Don’t remind me.  She was so diligent and dedicated.  She works very hard.  She’s a playwright, too.  She’s very talented.  She’s got it goin’ on. 

The Visitor is uplifting, but also has a somewhat “down” ending.  Was it difficult for you to sell the movie as-is?

McCarthy:  No.  Besides, I wouldn’t make a movie with people who are more concerned with making an audience happy as opposed to telling an honest story. In my experience audiences appreciate a story where they’re moved.  This isn’t a totally depressing movie.  I think a lot of audiences find it hopeful and optimistic.  But…there was no happy ending to this.  There was none in sight. 

Any possibility of a sequel?

McCarthy: Probably not.  I had a similar experience with The Station Agent, where people wanted to know happened the next day.  I think it’s a credit to the actors that people are genuinely concerned and want to know what happens to these characters.  I like to pick up stories at a certain moment in time and leave the rest up to the audience to think about.