Yassine Azzouz is a French actor/writer, who rose to prominence in the Canal Plus TV series “Jihad”.

DFI: You are a writer/ actor who started in theatre before moving to your role in the Canal Plus TV series “Jihad”. How did it all start?
Yassine: I always wanted to be an actor. At a tender age, I used to collect photos of TV programmes to make covers for my videotapes. I grew up watching American TV and I was seeped into this culture of cinema.

When I started attending acting school, I entered new worlds of writers who made me like reading books, such as Harold Pinter, Shakespeare and my all time favourite, David Mamet.

After two and a half years of intensive theatre at this school, which had a casting department for the students, we learned about a major series in the making on Canal + TV. It was “Jihad”. I got cast, it was my first role. I started shooting and I met my agent few months later, and that was the beginning of the adventure.

DFI: What did your time in theatre add to your career on screen?
Yassine: The positive side of the theatre is that when you discover the writers, you become less ignorant. The great chance I had besides getting to know new writers, was learning the Meisner method, which was taught at that time by Lesley Chatterlay. This exercise consisted of repeating, in front of a partner, what we feel and live at the time. That’s the real plus that helped me advance and I sincerely believe, when I implemented this method, it always brought me closer to presenting a convincing performance.

DFI: Have you seen more opportunities in the west, being of Moroccan origins?
Yassine: Being French with Algerian/Tunisian origins, and during a short stay in the U.S (Los Angeles) I was able to step back and realise that the variety of roles remains remarkably larger, because Americans have long surpassed the immigration issue, and they started using the diversity in their communities as an asset not a burden.

DFI: What were the main challenges you faced as an actor?
Yassine: My main challenges remain the same as before, proving myself in my field in order to make an impact with my qualifications as actor and writer. In France, it is a big challenge, because in Paris everyone knows everyone. Unfortunately, they always cast the same actors, directors and writers. And it’s difficult to impose yourself and have an existence because people fight for crumbs. In France, when you have a talent and you come up with an original idea or a project, you scare them. In the U.S if you arrive with something new, people will welcome you and compete to get you onboard.

DFI: Back to your role in “The Desintegration”: you play a complex, very difficult character, a dangerous manipulator of people. How did you get this role?
Yassine: My agent had my picture sent to the casting director. He agreed to see me. I had learned about the script when the film was still titled “Kamikaze”. When you run into this kind of role, you find yourself competing with all the actors in Paris. I met director Philippe Faucon immediately, I underwent auditions, and I heard nothing about the film, until after 6 months. One day I received a phone call from Philippe, who told me that I got casted. I was very happy.

DFI: How did you prepare for such a difficult role that you played with a lot of charisma?
Yassine: I had to adopt a character with a constant tone of voice and a mesmerizing articulation, in a way that sounds like a song playing on the radio. In fact, this has caused a lot of disagreements during the shoot, because the sound engineers kept asking me to talk sharply and I kept saying that it was impossible because it won’t be suitable to the character.

DFI: How was it working with director Philippe Faucon?
Yassine: Philippe is open to suggestions, and that’s great. He allows the actors to freely express themselves. I only need to look at him to understand what he wants to say. He knows how to address me and he’s like a sculptor who shapes and refines things. He has a very calm voice and is very sensible. I wish for all the actors and actresses to work with such a humble director, whose style is so sincere.

DFI:You are concerned with the status of Arab actors in Hollywood, and currently working on a film with this subject. Can you tell us more about the film? And are you telling us your story?
Yassine: I am more apt to talk about this from my French point of view, because being resident in Paris, I feel implicitly involved in this problem that persists in France, which is to confine the actors of Arab origins in nothing else than Arab characters.

In the U.S, they have surmounted this problem, because they knew how to use the immigration as a force, not a weakness. As to the movie I am currently working on “Hollywood Me” it revolves around a young immigrant actor who lives in the suburbs and dreams of conquering Hollywood. We follow his ascent from the French suburbs, Paris and then to Hollywood. It’s obvious that this film is inspired by my life. Certain parts of the film are a flagrant criticism of French cinema. I think that it will make a lot of people angry, but then again, cinema can serve causes, too.

DFI: When do you plan to film? And will there be a call for more Arab actors to join?
Yassine: I have signed the contract for “Hollywood Me”. We hope to start shooting at the end of this year at the latest. Obviously there will be a lot of roles to allocate in the French part and especially in the American part, where 80% of the shoot will take place. The actors’ origins don’t matter as long as they are actors. They can come from planet Mars, it’s not a big deal.

DFI: Who inspires you the most in your career as an actor and a writer?
Yassine: I am mostly inspired by Paul Thomas Anderson’s films. To me he is the best filmmaker in the world. He has a strong vision that is coupled with a technical mastery of plans and directing. That really impresses me. One of my favorite films is “There Will Be Blood”, where Daniel Day Lewis gives acting lessons in every second of the film. His submersion in the character is total, and he makes me forget that I am watching an actor.

Denzel Washington fascinates me, he remains a reference and a great inspiration. I can’t not mention Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. I met Al Pacino in Venice where my film “The Desintegration” was screening in the official selection, and I met Robert De Niro in Cannes, whereas I was seated next to him during the screening of Radu Mihaileanu’s “La Source Des Femmes”. They are the most down to earth people. One word: modesty.