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 didn't 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 didn't do any screen tests or anything, he just said it was going to be me."

"You know it's a very hard question because we did a lot of preparation but how are you going to prepare, you know, screaming or – so we were really focussed and we worked a lot. It was a chaotic shoot. And the make-up and everything, all this helped me be in my character and I couldn't cheat on any emotions, Pascal wouldn't allow us to cheat, so just on set, they were just coming up."

"Yeah. And have my head shaved. It was cool because I always wanted to see what it looked like, but afterwards – it was two years ago, so I've been struggling to get my hair back. I'm happier this way."

"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 didn't stay very long in Los Angeles. I really haven't 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 Laugier's 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. What's important is that she decided to go and live far away to realize her dreams freely and independently of her family"

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