Morjana Alaoui

"For me it was different, because there was another actress who was supposed to do the role, but at the last minute she got afraid because she had a son, she didnt want him to see such violent images, so she changed her mind. So Pascal was back looking for an actress and he saw my first movie, so we had lunch. And then this was quite strange because I didnt do any screen tests or anything, he just said it was going to be me."

"Yes. As soon as Id graduated from high-school, even before Id decided to become an actress, I knew Id leave."

"It took a lot of time. We used to wake up at like 3am to start shooting at 7am, so it was quite intense, as well. But I had never realised there was such a different world, so it was very interesting."

"I didnt stay very long in Los Angeles. I really havent got time to deal with the clichés which Sofia suffers from playing roles linked to her origins. I had to cut short my stay there to shoot Pascal Laugiers film, MARTYRS. That film really allowed me to move beyond the stereotypes within which actors from North Africa are too often confined. To me, the important thing is not that Sofia lives in Los Angeles – she could just as easily live in London or Paris. Whats important is that she decided to go and live far away to realize her dreams freely and independently of her family"