QUOTE
Alexander Siddig
Interview By: Dan Portnoy
DanielPortnoy@TheCinemaSource.com
It is a pleasure to sit down and chat with Alexander Siddig, the Sudanese born actor with Hollywood in his blood...literally. Spending most of his life in England, this forty-year-old actor is the nephew of major tinsel town player Malcolm McDowell who is most well known for his performance as Alex de Large in A Clockwork Orange. In England, Siddig began his career attending London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts and in ‘93 made his move to television as Dr. Julian Bashir on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Since then Siddig has gained some much warranted notoriety in the entertainment industry acting in films such as Vertical Limit, Reign of Fire, and the historical epic Kingdom of Heaven. This year he slips into a much different role within one of today’s most controversial and talked about films, Syriana.
The film is a political thriller set around the global oil industry. The plot contains four separate sub-stories which unravel and eventually connect with one another, bringing everything full circle. Siddig plays Prince Nasir Al-Subaai, an idealist who begins an unlikely partnership with an ambitious U.S. oil broker, BryanWoodman (Matt Damon). The film also stars George Clooney, Chris Cooper, Christopher Plummer and Amanda Peet, who all contribute significantly to the powerful conveyance of the narrative. The film hits theaters at a time when oil supply has become one of the nation’s primary concerns therefore it will be no surprise to hear audiences talking about this film for months, possibly even years to come.
There has been some speculation that Syriana may be over the heads of audiences around the country, that the film is too complex and politically one sided. “The amount of times I have been asked whether or not this [the movie] is going to be too challenging for the public is the thing that’s the saddest of all because, no, its like reading a book or watching a play, there is nothing remotely challenging about this.†You may be onto something here Mr. Siddig. Why is it that Hollywood has seen a shortage of films that stimulate the brain and that deals with something besides the supernatural or the fantastical? What it boils down to is that Syriana is a movie, an entertaining two hour storytelling, which if told well can create a world of difference in the minds of moviegoers. “It’s pretty sad that if it’s not Harry Potter, a movie I love by the way, it’s too challenging…this [Syriana] is a good 101 lesson in real politics and people will go crazy and say it’s liberal or pink or whatever the big word is of the day that they use to disparage something.†Conflicting opinions is exactly what makes this film work. People love it, they hate it, but they go see it anyway and make it the topic of conversation. Right there you’ve got to know something is being done right because as the saying goes “any publicity is good publicity.â€
So if sitting and watching this film isn’t a challenge then what pray tell is a challenge in the mind of Alexander Siddig? “Challenging is bringing up children, challenging is passing your SAT’s, challenging is not getting too drunk every night but what isn’t challenging is to watch a movie that’s just speaking common sense.†Well common sense is good and I guess not polishing off a bottle of Jack Daniels every night is good too.
In addition to fears of the film being too complicated, there are also fears that this film is geared specifically towards a particular political party, namely the democrats. “The fact of the matter is if you watch the movie, it’s incredibly apolitical frankly. It doesn’t mention Republican or Democrat throughout the entire movie.†There you have it. But if you ask me, and I did happen to ask Siddig, this film is more a about what’s going on behind closed doors in the government. Syriana is meant to create a stir and get people thinking, “hey, maybe I will get more involved,†or “hey, that shit is messed up, it’s time to get involved.†According to Siddig, “this movie shows us how high the bar is and how much work we have to do. We can’t just talk about it over baseball, we have to read a paper, we have to read the people we’re told not to read.†It is these things that Syriana will inspire you to do; unlike many films that motivate you into some plan of action which you forget about a day or two later.
Stephen Gaghan, the film’s director, spent an inordinate amount of time creating, preparing and researching for Syriana so that it could create this kind of lasting impression on people. “This is not a concept movie, this is not something that has been written casually, this is something that has been very, very carefully put together.†Gaghan already has one Oscar under his belt for his screenplay for the acclaimed film Traffic. So needless to say when he puts his time and energy into something it’s going to get done and it’s going to get done well. If you ask Siddig his opinion, “He is without a doubt the smartest person I’ve ever met.†And although the two didn’t always see eye to eye on certain aspects of filming, it eventually worked itself out. Mainly because Siddig knew deep down that Gaghan was right, he just didn’t want him to be. For Alexander Siddig, working with Gaghan was an exciting and constructive experience that he wouldn’t mind repeating. “It was great to work with him and I would be lucky to work with some one as smart as that again.â€
Let’s change gears shall we? Fantastic. The character of Prince Nasir Al-Subaai spent a great deal of his time in the desert which meant of course, so did Siddig. “I’ve made a couple of things [movies] in deserts now and I’ve made things in ice and I think the desert is probably the hardest actually because when it blows wind, your eyeballs get scratched by sand…it was oppressively hot and no umbrella is gonna really bail you out of that one and the air conditioning in the car feels like some one is just blowing on you.†The sand sounds incredibly, incredibly painful and the scorching heat is not something that can be adjusted to in a short period of time.
That right there is enough to turn me off from the desert scene, well spending an extended amount of time there at least. It makes you wonder whether or not the desert has any redeeming qualities. “It was beautiful though and it was hard not to go, ‘this is an awesome, awesome countryside,’ this is the most extraordinary terrain, as far as you can see there are these perfect dunes everywhere.†I guess maybe one day I’ll make it out there for the scenic beauty, that is, as long as I drive around in an ice cream truck.
With the talk that Syriana will undoubtedly create, Alexander Siddig will have his hands full for a while. Not to mention that he has both a T.V. movie and a motion picture set for releases in 2006. Yes folks, he is a busy man. And as one of the industry’s up and coming stars, you can be sure that Siddig will continue to make his mark in Hollywood.
Interview By: Dan Portnoy
DanielPortnoy@TheCinemaSource.com
It is a pleasure to sit down and chat with Alexander Siddig, the Sudanese born actor with Hollywood in his blood...literally. Spending most of his life in England, this forty-year-old actor is the nephew of major tinsel town player Malcolm McDowell who is most well known for his performance as Alex de Large in A Clockwork Orange. In England, Siddig began his career attending London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts and in ‘93 made his move to television as Dr. Julian Bashir on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Since then Siddig has gained some much warranted notoriety in the entertainment industry acting in films such as Vertical Limit, Reign of Fire, and the historical epic Kingdom of Heaven. This year he slips into a much different role within one of today’s most controversial and talked about films, Syriana.
The film is a political thriller set around the global oil industry. The plot contains four separate sub-stories which unravel and eventually connect with one another, bringing everything full circle. Siddig plays Prince Nasir Al-Subaai, an idealist who begins an unlikely partnership with an ambitious U.S. oil broker, BryanWoodman (Matt Damon). The film also stars George Clooney, Chris Cooper, Christopher Plummer and Amanda Peet, who all contribute significantly to the powerful conveyance of the narrative. The film hits theaters at a time when oil supply has become one of the nation’s primary concerns therefore it will be no surprise to hear audiences talking about this film for months, possibly even years to come.
There has been some speculation that Syriana may be over the heads of audiences around the country, that the film is too complex and politically one sided. “The amount of times I have been asked whether or not this [the movie] is going to be too challenging for the public is the thing that’s the saddest of all because, no, its like reading a book or watching a play, there is nothing remotely challenging about this.†You may be onto something here Mr. Siddig. Why is it that Hollywood has seen a shortage of films that stimulate the brain and that deals with something besides the supernatural or the fantastical? What it boils down to is that Syriana is a movie, an entertaining two hour storytelling, which if told well can create a world of difference in the minds of moviegoers. “It’s pretty sad that if it’s not Harry Potter, a movie I love by the way, it’s too challenging…this [Syriana] is a good 101 lesson in real politics and people will go crazy and say it’s liberal or pink or whatever the big word is of the day that they use to disparage something.†Conflicting opinions is exactly what makes this film work. People love it, they hate it, but they go see it anyway and make it the topic of conversation. Right there you’ve got to know something is being done right because as the saying goes “any publicity is good publicity.â€
So if sitting and watching this film isn’t a challenge then what pray tell is a challenge in the mind of Alexander Siddig? “Challenging is bringing up children, challenging is passing your SAT’s, challenging is not getting too drunk every night but what isn’t challenging is to watch a movie that’s just speaking common sense.†Well common sense is good and I guess not polishing off a bottle of Jack Daniels every night is good too.
In addition to fears of the film being too complicated, there are also fears that this film is geared specifically towards a particular political party, namely the democrats. “The fact of the matter is if you watch the movie, it’s incredibly apolitical frankly. It doesn’t mention Republican or Democrat throughout the entire movie.†There you have it. But if you ask me, and I did happen to ask Siddig, this film is more a about what’s going on behind closed doors in the government. Syriana is meant to create a stir and get people thinking, “hey, maybe I will get more involved,†or “hey, that shit is messed up, it’s time to get involved.†According to Siddig, “this movie shows us how high the bar is and how much work we have to do. We can’t just talk about it over baseball, we have to read a paper, we have to read the people we’re told not to read.†It is these things that Syriana will inspire you to do; unlike many films that motivate you into some plan of action which you forget about a day or two later.
Stephen Gaghan, the film’s director, spent an inordinate amount of time creating, preparing and researching for Syriana so that it could create this kind of lasting impression on people. “This is not a concept movie, this is not something that has been written casually, this is something that has been very, very carefully put together.†Gaghan already has one Oscar under his belt for his screenplay for the acclaimed film Traffic. So needless to say when he puts his time and energy into something it’s going to get done and it’s going to get done well. If you ask Siddig his opinion, “He is without a doubt the smartest person I’ve ever met.†And although the two didn’t always see eye to eye on certain aspects of filming, it eventually worked itself out. Mainly because Siddig knew deep down that Gaghan was right, he just didn’t want him to be. For Alexander Siddig, working with Gaghan was an exciting and constructive experience that he wouldn’t mind repeating. “It was great to work with him and I would be lucky to work with some one as smart as that again.â€
Let’s change gears shall we? Fantastic. The character of Prince Nasir Al-Subaai spent a great deal of his time in the desert which meant of course, so did Siddig. “I’ve made a couple of things [movies] in deserts now and I’ve made things in ice and I think the desert is probably the hardest actually because when it blows wind, your eyeballs get scratched by sand…it was oppressively hot and no umbrella is gonna really bail you out of that one and the air conditioning in the car feels like some one is just blowing on you.†The sand sounds incredibly, incredibly painful and the scorching heat is not something that can be adjusted to in a short period of time.
That right there is enough to turn me off from the desert scene, well spending an extended amount of time there at least. It makes you wonder whether or not the desert has any redeeming qualities. “It was beautiful though and it was hard not to go, ‘this is an awesome, awesome countryside,’ this is the most extraordinary terrain, as far as you can see there are these perfect dunes everywhere.†I guess maybe one day I’ll make it out there for the scenic beauty, that is, as long as I drive around in an ice cream truck.
With the talk that Syriana will undoubtedly create, Alexander Siddig will have his hands full for a while. Not to mention that he has both a T.V. movie and a motion picture set for releases in 2006. Yes folks, he is a busy man. And as one of the industry’s up and coming stars, you can be sure that Siddig will continue to make his mark in Hollywood.
Please remember me to read interviews before a party. Ohhh the alcohol 