Alexander Siddig: Life Beyond Star Trek
Source: Edward Douglas December 4, 2005


Most people first met actor Alexander Siddig during his tenure as Dr. Julian Bashir on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and unlike many of his co-stars, he has successfully made the transition to film this year by playing two strong Arab characters in high profile films, first in Ridley Scott's Crusades epic Kingdom of Heaven and currently in Stephen "Traffic" Gaghan's political thriller Syriana.

In the latter, he plays the son of an emir in a neighboring country to Iran, trying to get the best bid on the oil drilling rights for his country with the help of his economic advisor, played by Matt Damon. Or at least that would probably be a highly simplified description of the complex role that Siddig's character plays in Gaghan's story, loosely based on the exploits of real life CIA agent Bob Baer.

Obviously, Siddig's character was important enough that the actor was included in a recent New York press junket along with George Clooney and Matt Damon, and he's definitely an actor to keep an eye on in the future, if nothing else than for his outspoken political views.

CS: What was it about this movie that drew you to do it?
Siddig: It would be impossible not to be drawn to this movie as an actor, especially as an Arabic actor or someone who works on the ethnic fringe in a small vein of one of the many seams of acting. To pass up or not be interested in someone who seems normal and real would be crazy. I end up speaking so grandly, when I don't know if I have the right to, but to pass up the diplomatic potential of a character like this would be really foolish. I think whether you're in the Middle East or in Europe or America, you can identify with this person.

CS: I assume that being of Arab descent, you're careful about what kinds of roles you take. How does it feel to be able to do two of the really memorable Arab characters in one year?
Siddig: I'm one of the luckiest Arab actors on the planet, because I've done, I think, two of the finest Arab roles that have been out in mainstream cinema for a very long time. Apart from that, the personal trip for me has been wonderful. I have an English side called Alexader and a Sudanese side called Siddig, and they're beginning to meet each other in me, let alone the greater picture, and I'm hoping that people from both sides will meet each other. There's a personal journey, which I would love it if it was reflected in the bigger, wider world, because we're all quite good friends. We just don't know it yet.

CS: And both those characters were called "Prince Nasir", too. That's kind of weird, isn't it?
Siddig: Isn't that a strange thing? I'd already started filming "Syriana" and the "Kingdom of Heaven" one was changed as if they decided that I should be called whatever I was called in "Syriana." It's very odd. He was called [something completely unpronounceable in Arabic] before, who was a real character, a historian for Saladin who wrote his diary for him every night, kind of his ghost writer. For some reason, they thought that was politically uncool, so they changed my name to "Nasir" and I'm "Nasir" in this as well. How d'ya like them apples?

CS: Do you consider this Nasir (in "Syriana") to be a heroic figure?
Siddig: He is a heroic figure. If I was in that position, I would love to be that guy, and I'm not even sure I wouldn't mind being shot by the Americans, if that was the case, or the Russians, or the Philipinos, or whomever happens to rule the world at that particular moment in time in my fantasy scenario. Because to live like that, it's Gandhi, it's another form of that but just the Arab version. I think the Arab world doesn't really have a personality cult situation going on that they have in much of the Western world. They are a culture of words and religion, and you won't see many charismatic people on Al Jazeera, except for the ones who are now learned presenters. You see Arab leaders getting on TV looking somnambulant into their microphone, almost as if someone's got a hand up their back, which is very hard working out how to do the part. Bin Laden actually is the most European or westernized of all the leaders. He's the one who is the most polished ironically. He's smart and handsome and rich… and well trained by the CIA. He's a very dangerous man indeed and he now has this franchise called al-Qaida, which rivals Starbucks in its ubiquity. That's not a really cool thing to say, is it?

CS: Can you elaborate on the character and his potential a bit?
Siddig: He's the personification of the great missed opportunity. He's the chance that America had to turn things around, if only they hadn't been so angry that he'd given the contract to someone else. Matt Damon's character came along and warned him. Hey, you have to be able to finance what you're planning to do. If you want emancipation, suffrage, you want civil liberties and freedom of the press that crazy liberals like, then you're going to have finance it somehow. And the only way you can do that is not just to sell your oil, but to ship it, and be in all different aspects of it. Understand your business. Don't just give plots of land away willy nilly to people. Own the plots yourself, market it. Be American. Market yourself. Diversify. You can do all these things, and the Chinese know about this stuff, too. That was just dropped in there, and it's one of the most significant points in the film, because China is the Middle East.

CS: A lot of this movie seems to come from next year's headlines rather than last year's.
Siddig: That's right. Next year's headlines is going to be "China is the Middle East." The reason why nothing is happening is Dhapur is because China runs Sudan and who's going to mess with China on the Security Council? The Americans are going up against what happens to be some interesting minerals in Dhapur and it all gets very funkadelic. To amplify on that character, he's what we hopes exists.

CS: How do you feel about the American CIA and their dealings in the Mideast?
Siddig: That's one of the points this movie is making. Dick Cheney talks about the "dark side" as referring to the secret services, the CIA or whatever they're called. I think that there's something wrong. These government agencies are off the leash in some way and they're supra government now and they really shouldn't be. They're working for the wrong people. They're supposed to be working for the Americans, and according to our movie, there is an insinuation that they're working for corporate America, and we're in incredibly dangerous water.

CS: Now that the West is so embroiled in the Middle East, our TV shows and films are starting to have more Arabic characters, but they're always the really good or the really bad. Is that just as bad as not having these characters at all?
Siddig: No, that's great, and it's idealistic to think it's ever going to get any better. Even now, we have the good American and the bad American in movies, and the good Englishman and the bad Englishman. We're dealing with archetypes, and we're not going to get these subtle nuanced people unless Ruth whatever-her-name is, who writes all the Merchant Ivory thing, because she's such a beautiful writer. While you've got movies that have to deal with archetypal subjects and stereotypes than good and bad is what we're going to get, and I'm happy with it.

Wasim is my favorite character in the movie and it's very dangerous to big him up, because they're almost idealizing suicide terrorists, but it's a fascinating storyline. Steve Gaghan I put right along Ruth. They can write these nuanced characters. That's just great writers, who I can always do that. The basic lowest common denominator, I'm happy with just good and bad, as long as they're both there. As long as it's not just some guy shouting "Allah Akbar" on a Boeing 747, then it's terrific to see more. It means we're getting to know each other and I like that.

CS: Something that few people might know about you is that your mother is Malcolm McDowell's sister. Was he helpful in your decision to become an actor yourself?
Siddig: He made acting possible or as something you can do. One of the hardest things about your profession and my profession is that it seems unattainable to most people. It just seems like something other people happen to have the luck to do. When you have someone in the family who is an actor, you can see that being lazy and doing very little with your life can pay. And you can actually make quite a handsome living from that. I went ahead and got into acting. Actually, I got into directing. I just ended up being an actor, but he was definitely something to do with it, whether it was subliminal or something more conscious than that.

CS: So being in these two movies, you've kind of escaped the "Star Trek curse". Were you aware that some actors go into "Star Trek" and never do anything else?
Siddig: Yeah, yeah, I'm aware of that. I'm just in a very bizarre niche and there aren't many people you can go to, but I blame Ridley Scott really, because he was the person who went "I love Star Trek and I'd love it if you were in my movie" and people like Oliver Stone went "I hated Star Trek, and I don't want you in Alexander!" I was really lucky there. But it is Ridley Scott's fault, because he was the one who put me in a grown-up movie. I mean I've been in other movies, but there are different kinds of parts in movies, I found out. There are parts that you can do them all your life, and no one knows you're even acting, and there are other parts which people notice that you're in and you become an actor from the movies and people take you in a whole different way. Whether or not I can keep that ball rolling is another matter. But I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for "Star Trek," so it's pretty great, and it means that I'm a relatively friendly face to a lot of Americans and it's useful for that rather pretentious diplomatic trip I'm on.

CS: Any idea what's next for you?
Siddig: The thing I'm most interested is about Hannibal, an epic about Hannibal, but it's a low budget one. It's not the Vin Diesel one. We've only got one elephant. (Note: That last part was probably a joke.)

CS: Have any of the Arab or Palestinian directors come to you to appear in their films?
Siddig: They wouldn't come to me yet, because I'm very much a Western actor. Even though I would love to be all kinds of things. I'm definitely a Hollywood person. Not enough yet, but that's where I am.

CS: You directed an episode of "Deep Space Nine," so would directing be something you'd want to pursue?
Siddig: If I'm lucky enough and if I ever get smart enough to direct, I'll direct again, but I've gotta write my own stuff, and that means reading a book someday.

Syriana is currently playing in select cities, and it opens nationwide on December 9.