Original-Cin Q&A: Star Trek Discovery's Shazad Latif talks up the all-computer-screen ISIS thriller Profile
Profile is a psychologically terrifying film directed by Timur Bekmambetov and starring Valene Kane and Shazad Latif.
The mystery thriller follows a young British journalist, played by Kane, who goes undercover to investigate Islamic terrorist groups online, but instead finds herself falling in love with her recruiter.
The entire film is shot using only computer and phone screens, something director Bekmambetov has done pre-pandemic with films like Unfriended and Searching. It is a technique the director has dubbed “Screenlife” and it has plenty of new filmmaking followers lately for obvious reasons.
Shazad Latif - known for his role as the Klingon-haunted security officer Ash Tyler in Star Trek:Discovery - is scary good as Bilel, the islamic recruiter who manipulates vulnerable women to join ISIS.
Shazad Latif plies his trade as a recruiter in Profile in what amounts to a jihadi call centre.
Our Bonnie Laufer spoke with Shazad Latif about taking on this role and why he had initial misgivings.
Profile is now available on VOD.
CLICK HERE to watch Bonnie’s interview with Valene Kane and HERE for director Timur Bekmambetov
ORIGINAL-CIN: Shazad, you were scary-good playing this guy. How nervous were you to take on this role?
SHAZAD LATIF: That was the main thing when I was first approached. I was very apprehensive about even taking on the role of anything linked to terrorism. I think I was making strides where I was not having to come across that at that point in my career.
I found out about the role in 2016 and I was out of work at the time. It goes to show, never say never. I still felt that there is a sense of sort of guilt and shame about playing these types of roles, because I didn’t want it to feel like a sort of setback to my whole community.
I think that feeling will always be there, but I think the specificity of the story that we had in front of us was that it was Anna's story and it was true. (The movie is based on Anna Érelle’s novel In the Skin of a Jihadist). We got to see her Skype conversations verbatim and at the end of the day we wanted to show how easy it can be for these terrorists to manipulate these women especially over the internet.
PROUDLY SUPPORTS ORIGINAL-CIN
O.C: It was fascinating and scary to watch how far down the rabbit hole she goes, even being under cover.
LATIF: That was one of the main reasons I wanted to do it. It’s a love story between these two and it was a two-hander. You don’t really get to see what this guy does after the camera is turned off. It is all presented from what we see through their conversations, and it is scary.
For me it was all about his behavior towards this woman and I found that very interesting. I did find the subject matter very interesting as well. I had no idea anything about that and I found it fascinating to dive deep into where I thought he was coming from as a master manipulator.
O-C: Then you get into the mindset of what he's really doing here. He’s charismatic, good looking and he's got this fun and playful personality. He's pretty much like the perfect salesman. He’s a real charmer, who wouldn't be seduced by this guy?
LATIF: I agree. He had all the right moves, yet there was something very childish, very silly about him. It’s not a shock that any young teenage girl or vulnerable woman would fall for his techniques, and find him alluring. He had a way of humanizing himself, which was a huge part of his game. One minute he’s a charmer and relatable and then he can just switch like that and suddenly be very evil.
But it was trying to find that balance that challenged me. It's an interesting thing to try and play because there are so many layers to peel away at.
O-C: Plus, you're working across Valene all via screens. What is interesting is that she is playing a journalist whose job it is to get close to your character so that he can be tracked down and stopped. Yet she starts to fall for him. Tell me a little bit about the relationship and how you guys built that believable chemistry.
LATIF: Well we shot the whole film in nine days, but we had one week where we actually rehearsed together in a hotel. That one week was very important because we figured out what we wanted to do, and how we were going to go about this.
I wrote about three scenes that were used in the film. But for the most part, we were improvising. So, it was just about trying to find the right balance and making sure we got to the place where it needed to go.
O.C I am sure it helped immensely having your director, Timur Bekmambetov, who is so knowledgeable on making these types of films work.
LATIF: Oh, absolutely. He was a huge help and very open to our ideas. It was sort of the perfect collaborative thing because Timor gave us so much freedom to explore who these characters were and that is quite a rare thing. It’s also rare to even get that kind of trust from each other. It gives you so much confidence in your work and makes you feel like you are doing this right.
O-C: What was it like after you saw the finished product and watched it back for the first time?
LATIF: My initial reaction was thinking, “Am I really going to enjoy a film where the main characters are on screens for almost two hours? Is this going to hold my attention?”
But I was pleasantly surprised, and it’s a testament to the sound, the editing, the production and the direction. I felt like I was watching this incredibly fast paced thriller.
The pacing of the movie shocked me the most. It’s a good thriller and you're on the edge of the seat. I remember thinking, “This might be just as one of the few times I’m in a good movie.” (Laughs)
O-C: After working on a film like this and learning about how easily people can be sucked in via the internet, what would you like people to take away?
LATIF: I think one of the first things Timor said was that people in general are more open emotionally with their screens than they are with the people in their lives. I've got friends who put things on Instagram and don't even talk to me about it and I find that just mind-boggling.
The world has gone in such an interesting way, because I'm not generally into social media or any of that kind of stuff. But to watch that happen is a little scary. I'm seeing it happen with my nieces and it scares me. Just the way we use technology is such a scary thing to me.
That there was also another reason why I wanted to explore this kind of thing. Why do we do this and why is it easier to talk to someone on a screen but not to their face? It's such a fascinating character study that needs to be explored further.