'Body of Lies', Set Decorator, Sonja Klaus

0:00Jawad Mir"Now, Sonia, what's this?" And I looked at him and I went, I said, "Well, the feeling was it was the mother's place and they were staying there." And he was going, "No, it's got to be young and modern. It was Ramadan. Do you think shops are open on... Do you think…"

0:15Sonja KlausNo.

0:15Jawad MirAnd I had a friend who was in London, and I rang her up literally two minutes later and I went, "I'm gonna g… I need you to go, get your credit card, I'll pay you back. Spend 500 quid, a thousand pounds, I don't care. I'm gonna book you a ticket now. You're gonna be on a flight tomorrow at lunchtime. You're coming to Rabat." So I said, "I need you to go to Zara home now," and I said, "I want you to get this, and this." Ridley Scott's nearly kneeling on the ground on rubbish that he couldn't, because he couldn't, you couldn't see it properly, and he's talking about pork chops.

0:45Sonja KlausI bet you he got that idea, I don't know if you ever watched Seinfeld.

0:49Jawad MirYes. Yes.

0:50Sonja KlausThat episode where Elaine Benes had the anger issues.

0:53Jawad MirThis guy…

0:54Sonja KlausI bet you he got the idea from it

0:55Jawad Mir... He probably did. He pr… I'm sure he did.

1:06Sonja KlausI re-watched Body of, Lies, I think last week when we were supposed to chat, and it's been a while. And I remember watching it the first time when it came out in theaters, that this was obviously at the height of the Iraq War and everything and how Ridley had sort of worked in that genre with Black Hawk Down…

1:25Jawad MirYes

1:25Sonja Klaus... Which was not really Iraq War, but you know what I mean. And, really re-watching and re-experiencing it was definitely something that I'm glad I did. And I know you were part of it as a set decorator.

1:37Jawad MirYes

1:38Sonja Klaus... Having worked with Ridley all these years, that was, like, by default you probably got on. But tell me the process of when you heard about, when you read the first, the s… the script and how you kind of went about dealing with all the work that you did with it.

1:52Jawad MirBody of Lies was quite interesting for me because it was one of the first films I did with Ridley that I think was p… more political based. Obviously, you know, gl… you could, you could argue and say, "Oh, yes, but there was the Romans in Gladiator, and there was Kingdom of Heaven, and there was, you know, the Muslims versus the Christians." That's ancient history. Body of Lies felt so much more relevant and more of the day, of the time. And I, we'd been, we'd filmed in Morocco before because we had done, he had, he had done, we had done Kingdom of Heaven there.

2:33Sonja KlausRight.

2:33Jawad MirAnd so it was a natural thing to want to go back, because he needed the desert, they need the dryness. You know, there were lots of things that we needed because obviously we were meant to be in another country. When we were actually looking to shoot Body of Lies, so I had the script sent to me, I read it and I thought, "Yeah, it's not bad. It's actually quite interesting." And I really liked the, Mark Strong character, Hani, and, Hani. And you know, and I knew, and I, you know, it was Leo and I was like, "Well, it's a good, strong cast." And Russell Crowe was gonna be in it, you know, who we'd all worked with before. And we, interestingly enough, we weren't gonna film in Morocco. And, we, I got this phone call and I got told to get to a plane and, I got told, "You're gonna go on a plane," by Charlie Sh… Charlie, who was the, producer. I got a phone call to say, "Would you like to come to, get on a plane? We're gonna go to Dubai." I was like, "Oh, okay."

3:34Jawad MirBecause obviously it was set in a big kind of environment, you know? You needed some modern buildings as well as, you know, the deserts and all of those things. So off we trollied to Dubai, and we got met by the, Sheikh Mohammed Maktoum's physio and, whoever else was part of the entourage to do with him. And I stayed in a very nice hotel, and it was quite a bizarre experience for me because I was the only female. And so I wasn't allowed in the same room as the gentleman that came. I had to sit in a separate room, and I had an escort that was with me, a female escort. And I was given a camera and I was given a microphone should I wish to ask any questions of anybody about, you know, that we needed. D… what did we need? What are your needs? You know, what are you looking for? I didn't actually ask any questions, but I found that experience, as I'm sure you can imagine, quite different for me because I was used…

4:35Sonja KlausRight

4:36Jawad Mir... To being in a Western world as a female and being allowed to sit in meetings with men, and I wasn't allowed to do that. And I was also given, a few lessons at the time on, not to speak or touch. You know, there were, there were a few things I was told not to do, and I also was... I already, because I'd worked in Morocco, before and I had been to other coun… Muslim countries, I already knew about the covering up and about don't walk around in shorts and show your elbows and, you know, all of that. I kne… I knew all of that. And we then, they read the script and I don't really know what happened, but we were there for about three days and then we went next, to the next country and we went to Abu Dhabi. And Abu Dhabi, as you know, is an older, is more established, principality, if that's the w… right word. And we went there and we had a look around there, and that was absolutely fascinating 'cause it was quite different to Dubai.

5:41Jawad MirIt was very completed. You know, it was finished. They didn't have all the sort of buildings being built, and we looked at that. And then we got back to the, we got back to our hotel, and I got told to pack my bags, and it was quite late at night, and I got told, "We're getting on a jet and we're leaving." I was like, "Okay, so we're leaving. All right, we're leaving." So we literally left and it was dark, and we get on this jet and we're flying, and we have to stop in Qatar, flying over all the oi… oil fields with all the burning. You know, they're, they're quite strange with all the pipes that sit on the top of the desert. If you've never seen that, it's quite weird. And of course, I'd never seen it looking out of the window, and…

6:26Sonja KlausRight

6:26Jawad Mir... There's all these black lines with fires coming up. And of course, it's the gasses, isn't it, burning off of…

6:31Sonja KlausYeah

6:31Jawad Mir... The oil fields. And it was quite strange. It was all quite surreal, and it was quite like relieving, you know? So I, we stopped in Kuwait, to fuel up. Was it Kuwait or Qatar? I can't remember. It was one or the other. And we fueled up because we were apparently going in this jet to Morocco. Oh, there's a surprise.

6:55Sonja KlausOh, wow.

6:55Jawad MirAnd so we got out, and it was quite dark. And I remember going into the,.. They said, "Oh, you can go on into the main terminal building, you know, but mind how you go 'cause there's other jets landing." And so I was escorted, not in a buggy or anything, just like, "Oh, walk over there." And so I walked over there, and we went into this terminal building that was very nice. And then they said, "Oh, you can go in the, you know, you can go in the VIP, waiting area. Go in the VIP waiting area." Well, I mean, I've never seen anything like it, with chandeliers. And there was, there were, like, full-on lobsters and jars of caviar and champagne. I mean, it was like a r… It was so weird. And I just remember thinking, "This is weird." And it was full of American servicemen who'd been out there b… for, from, and for, you know, because of the Afghan wars and whatever else was going on. And they were stopping by, like we were, to go back to the States or back to wherever they're going.

8:00Jawad MirAnd they all had, like, their kit bags. And they were all lying around eating lobster, and they're out in their uniforms and caviar. These soldiers, it was so... I said to Ridley, "We should be filming that 'cause no one's gonna believe that." I mean, it was literally... And they had, like, hot magnums of, like, you know, Cristal champagne. They were all drinking it. And anyway, so we go back, and I get in the jet. And, we arrive in Agadir, having a look at Agadir. And they say, "We've booked this hotel for you to go and stay in." So we go to this hotel and change. You know, by now it's, like, 6:00 in the morning.

8:35Jawad MirAnd we go and get changed. And then we're driving around in these... We have some… something to eat. And they go, "So let's have a look at the buildings here." And of course, we needed, like, you know, modern stuff.

8:46Sonja KlausRight.

8:46Jawad MirYou know, we didn't necess… You know, and Agadir, think about it. What's in Agadir, do you think, that could be... You know, there's hotels, right? So we're driving around. Then Ridley, after about, I don't know, about 20 minutes, he's like, "I'm not really feeling it." So I'm back at the air… back at the hotel. "Get your bags. We're leaving." So I get my bags. I pack them, and we leave. And we go, and we end up in, Casabl… in, Casablanca. And then they go, "Well, we're not actually staying in Casablanca. We're gonna go and have a look at,.." Where did we go to? What's the town next to Casablanca? My brain is completely emptied. Next to Casablanca, where the king has his ca… his, where he lives. So we were in there, and we were in, Sale. So we were in, R… Rab… Rabat. So then they said, "Oh, we're gonna take the cars from Casablanca. We're gonna go to Rabat. We're putting you in a hotel in Rabat. We're gonna have a look at Rabat and Sale." Okay, this is all a bit mad. And that was just at the very beginning when I'd just got the script, and I didn't really know what was going on or what was happening.

9:53Jawad MirAnd that all took place in a very short space of time. I think it was six days. And we did all this mad traveling around on these pla… on this, these, this plane. It was the same plane. The same plane kept flying us around. It's like a taxi. And, yeah, and then that's how we ended up in Morocco.

10:09Sonja KlausWow. You know, one thing I really enjoyed about Body of Lies, even rewatching it, is the... Well, I loved Russell Crowe's character because it was a complete opposite of Maximus. Like, he played a prick in that movie. And, he did a really good job. By the way, if you haven't seen Nunavut…

10:27Jawad MirYeah, have I watched it?

10:28Sonja Klaus... Watch it. It's

10:28Jawad Mir'Cause he texted me and went, "Have you watched it?" And I was like, "Yes, I've seen it. I saw it."

10:34Sonja KlausI loved it.

10:34Jawad MirI thought he was really good. He was brilliant in it. He was brilliant in it.

10:37Sonja KlausEverybody was. Everybody was, and it didn't get nominated for a single award.

10:41Jawad MirI know. Yeah, but you know.

10:43Sonja KlausAnyways, I was so getting sidetracked here. But his performance, and then, Leo's relationship with the nurse, I thought that was really…

10:50Jawad MirOh, yes. Yeah

10:51Sonja Klaus... Really well articulated throughout the movie.

10:54Jawad MirYeah.

10:54Sonja KlausAnd what I really loved about Ridley Scott films in, on those topics, like with Black Hawk Down, I remember when I watched it. Because this is... You have to understand. This was the time when 9/11 had happened, and there was a lot of, you know, response against, not by everybody, against certain, you know, small groups of Muslims by a small group of people who weren't that, you know…

11:16Sonja Klaus... Informed. But the wa… And I really appreciated, Black Hawk Down and Body of Lies because in Hollywood, besides the movie The Siege, which came out before 9/11 with Denzel Washington and…

11:27Jawad MirYes

11:27Sonja Klaus... Annabella Sciorra…

11:28Jawad MirThey hadn't really di… no

11:29Sonja Klaus... No, nothing.

11:31Jawad MirNo.

11:31Sonja KlausAnd so it was really, it was really good to see that at the time.

11:35Jawad MirYeah.

11:35Sonja KlausAnd especially the ending of Body of Lies, I kid you not, I remember even watching it, rewatching it, I know it's what's gonna happen. It was dragged on for so long, you know, the whole slaughtering scene, that you just cannot figure out what's g… A… and it was done so well. It wasn't dragged out for the sac… sake of, like, being bored or anything. But it just, you felt like, "Okay, this is actually gonna happen." And that was happening in those days, right? So I…

11:58Jawad MirThat was happening. And what was interesting about that particular scene, so we were in, Rabat. And we hadn't really... That scene kind of changed a few times in the script. And Ridley was worried about how far he could go, you know, how far can he go with the torturing and how far can he go. And I can't remember who it was. I think it was Charlie, producer. He just went, "You're just, you have to go for it. You gotta tell it like it really…

12:29Sonja KlausLike it is

12:30Jawad Mir... Is." And I remember when we were sitting having conversations about it, I felt quite sick. I was, like, thinking, "Oh, that's just…" Oh, that is just awful. And then when I watched it in the film I was like, "Oh, that is... Wow, that is grim." And it was, it was quite interesting because it, as far as the set was concerned, I mean, all the other sets and everything, you know, and the locations all had to have things done to it. But that particular place, we walked into these rooms, and they were pretty empty. I mean, there was some pigeon poo and… Yeah... You know, some old chairs, and a bit of paper, and some old tin cans, and some kids had been there and, you know, been, you know, graff… bit of graffiti and stuff. And so it was funny walking in because Ridley just, that scene he walked into that room and there were lots of other rooms. And he just stood there and he went, "Right, we're gonna put a table here and we're just gonna, it's gonna happen right here. This is where we're gonna do it." And I was like, "So what are we..." I said, "I think we just need a ta… we just need a table really, and maybe a chair."

13:35Jawad MirSo literally all I brought was that light, the table, and chair, you know? And it was, because if you think about it there wouldn't be much else. You know, there really wouldn't. And he said, "It's got to look so horribly grim." But we thought the table was quite interesting 'cause it looked like you might be given a meal on it, you know, or something, but you weren't. Instead it was used for torturing. And there was that whole kind of double entendre about that, you know, that messaging for the audience. And I suppose for me, I mean, out of all the scenes, that one is just pretty horrific. But at the same time, so strong and so needed because people needed to know that this is really what it's like, mate. It is like this, and they do piss themselves, and they do lie in their own shit, and it really is like this, and they really do get nails on a bling and it really... You know, they really do it. And all the other locations, there was one location which I c… which, oh, it was a bit of a moment.

14:43Jawad MirI've gotta tell you, it was a bit of a moment. I still laugh about it now because it was just a mo… it was a moment because Ridley didn't realize w… so in, you know, quite a lot of people in Morocco don't eat pork. Yeah. As I'm sure you know. Yeah. So we went up to this Salé where we filmed. I'm sad to say that quite a lot of Salé and some of the towns by are... You know, Salé is one, has one of the, had at the time one of the largest slums in the world. And there were more diseases in this area, and we did actually film in part of the slum. You can see that in the film., We didn't build that. That was real slum. I did put for the market, I put some dirty awnings and, you know, I had to add stuff for light and, you know, to make shade and, you know. So I did have to add some things to some of those scenes that you see. And, you know, we brought in the donkeys and we brought in...

15:45Jawad MirYou know, you bring slum stuff in because obviously… Right... If an actor's touching things, you've gotta be careful because you don't want them to get sick, 'cause they can quite easily and then you can't film. So w… and I got ringworm because I was… Oh, dear... I was the only one that was prepared to wrangle the mules, 'cause I was pushing them around in their carts and hitching them up on their carts with some locals. But none of the English people wanted to touch the mules 'cause they were all like... You know, 'cause they had ticks and fleas and, you know, and they weren't inoculated. And so I got ringworm. I've never had ringworm strangely. It was quite strange. And it really is rings. You really do get, like, these ring... It was really quite weird. Oh, really? Yeah. And I also got, I got some sort of amoeba thing, some sort of, like, weird stomach. And I remember f… Yeah, I was quite s… I had to go to the Tropical Diseases Centre in London. Bran co… Charlie had to fly me home because I was quite sick. You know, like, I had something... I wasn't, like, being sick, I just, like, there was something really wrong with my gut.

16:47Jawad MirAnd, you know, like, my poo was a funny color. It was, like, bright green. I was like, "I don't think that's normal." And so they flew me home and the people, man in the Tropical Diseases Centre said, "So where are you working?" And I went, "Salé." And he was like... "You're... Sorry, have I got that right? You're in Salé in Morocco?" And I went, "Yeah, we're, that's where our... You know, we're filming. We've been filming in." And I told him, and he went, "You've been filming?" He said, and he showed me this map, 'cause they have these maps showing the, like, colors. And he s… and he shows me this graph at the side and he said, "So this graph here is every bad disease," to put it bluntly, "that there is in the world." And he said, "So you've got nearly every single one of them in there." Wow. And then I went, I went, "Oh." Well, I said, "That would be why." Anyway, it turned out I had some thing, you know, I don't know what it was. And so he gave me some medication and I went back. But they wanted me to go to the Tropical Diseases Centre 'cause they like to keep tabs on, you know, they like to keep tabs on it for the research.

17:51Jawad MirSo I was asked to go if I would by the nurse. I was asked if I wouldn't mind going. That's why I said yes, okay. So they flew me literally back for a day and I flew back. But we got to this place and it was, we had to do the rubbish tip. So where Hani's body is found, you know, when he's found and he's, there's the pipe with the water dripping down. Right. So I built that. So that wasn't real. Ah. That was built. So I put a pipe in and we literally got a hose pipe at the end, and I had to do bags and bags of clean rubbish, now there's a challenge for you, and so that he could lie in it. But when we went on the recce, my driver, Zach, said to me, he said, "I don't, I don't think we should get out of the car like this." And I went... And this is Zach. You know, and he grew up in Marrakesh, quite, very nice family, you know. And I went, "Why not, Zach?" And he went, "Well…" Because it's dirty like this. I went, I said, "Yeah, but what level of dirt are we talking here, Zack?"

18:52Jawad MirAnd he went, "I'm talking hundreds of meters of dirt like this." Of course, I didn't know. I was like, "Yeah, whatever. " So we get out of the car, and we go, and it's quite... It's, it's getting a bit, it's dusk, and Ridley turns up. And I'm looking around, and I'm thinking, "What's that extraordinarily strange smell?" Well, of course, what I didn't realize was that they, it was all the rubbish from... It was all rubbish, just all, everything, food, old nappies, old shoes, tin cans, you know, you name it, rags, anything. Poo. You know, it was all there, and they just pressed it down, and they built their houses on top of it because we were on a slum. We were on top of a mountain of slum. And when he said it was hundreds of meters, it was hundreds of meters of rubbish.

19:45Sonja KlausWow.

19:45Jawad MirIt was just a rubbish mountain that had a village on top of it. And Ridley, the, all, there were some Americans had come over, you know, because they'd come over from America because they could film that little bit, you know, with Russell Crowe in his house in Washington. And they came over, and r… and I'd said to them, I said to a few of them, I said, "Don't put your bag on the ground. Don't, I wouldn't put your bag on the ground." And when Zack and I turned out, we both had, we had bags, you know, we had, supermarket bags tied around our shoes. And so everyone was looking at us going, "Oh, what's that for?" Like this. And I was like, "Oh, just, you know, to keep my shoes clean," like that. And it wasn't. It was because Zack said, "You're not getting back in my car. If you're gonna walk all over that stuff, you're not getting in my car." And Ridley was about to kneel down to do the whole Hani thing, you know. And he said out loud, he went, "And they said what we'll do is we get some dogs, and they will get some pork chops, and we'll stick the pork chops in the jacket so the dogs will go for the pork chops," like that.

20:53Jawad MirAnd I just was like, "This is, this is so weird. I don't think anyone would believe me if I tell them I was standing on a rubbish tip." Ridley Scott's nearly kneeling on the ground on rubbish that he couldn't, because he couldn't, you couldn't see it properly. And he's talking about pork chops, and we're in a cou… the country that we're in. And so I just went for it. I went, "yeah, we'll just dog biscuits." I went like that. And he went, "Oh, dog biscuits," like that. And…

21:21Sonja KlausYou know, I bet you... Sorry, I bet you he got that idea, I don't know if you ever watched Seinfeld.

21:26Jawad MirYes. Yes.

21:27Sonja KlausThat episode where Elaine Benes had the handkerchief.

21:30Jawad MirThis guy…

21:30Sonja KlausI bet you he got the idea from it

21:32Jawad Mir... He probably did. He pr… I'm sure he did. But it was just... You know, and the whole thing was, I mean, I found it all quite fascinating. And I loved, you know, when you see the film, there's the contrast of all the dryness of the desert, you know. And when they go out, and there's that, you know, they're, they're out in the desert, and there's that hut that's out there. And you know it's pretty, you know something's gonna happen, you know. And that, finding that location, I remember when we found it. And that actually, that hut, quite a lot of that hut was actually there. So I only had to take, I got some local. We had some, you know, great locals, and I got some locals that we had to build a bit of that stone walling, you know, to, just to make it a bit more.

22:14Jawad MirBut it's, you know, things like that are so easy to do there because, of course, they're used to doing it. So if you get the right person, because that's how, that's what they build. So just get, you don't need fancy construction people. You can just get locals. So there was quite a lot of that. You know, there was, there was a lot of that, you know, and trying to create that bomb, you know, the bomb in the drum.

22:33Sonja KlausRight. Right.

22:33Jawad MirYou know, that was like, "How do we do research on making a bomb?" And I w… had a prop master with me, and he looked at me, and he went, "I know how to make a bomb. I got shown by the IRA once." And I was like, "Oh, good to know."

22:47Sonja KlausWow.

22:47Jawad MirDon't say that out loud. Don't say that out loud. Yeah.

22:54Sonja KlausAmazing. You know, the hospital scene, were you involved in that when he's…

22:59Jawad MirYes.

23:00Sonja KlausOkay.

23:00Jawad MirSo that was in a restaurant.

23:03Sonja KlausOkay, because I found those scenes very necessary…

23:08Jawad MirYes

23:08Sonja Klaus... Because the film was extremely chaotic and brutal and, you know, rough, but this was, like, more like a soft, sensitive approach. And this…

23:18Jawad MirWell, the idea, yes

23:19Sonja Klaus... And the set up, set spoke to that, but go ahead, please.

23:21Jawad MirSo that, so the idea behind that and the way that looked was that, you know, he obviously had, you know, he was pulling bits of glass and human bits off him…

23:33Sonja KlausYeah

23:34Jawad Mir... Because that's what happened. You know, and there was the shock of that, and then there had to be this kind of, ugh. Dudley, stop. So there then, so there had to be, when we were doing the hospital scene, it was really important to have the sort of the very bright light of outside and the dryness of the desert and the shrapnel and the horror and the blood to then go into this space. So that space was, it was actually a restaurant

24:11Jawad Mir... Which we, I c… I got cleared out. And you'll notice there were a few tables and things just for, you know, there was a bit at the front, and that was for, you know, guests coming to visit. But the color of it, those sort of the paler kind of like, tones, it was almost, I don't know. I said to Ridley, "I feel like it needs to be almost like heaven. It's almost like you're going to this, like, sanitarium."

24:35Sonja KlausNice.

24:35Jawad MirAnd, you know, it was, that was the sort of idea behind it, which is why I kept all the... I was very finickity about the types of instruments, and I didn't want there to be too much of it you know, to get that feeling over. And it, and it had to have that feeling of that there was caring there, and there was, you know, the… they had an ability to fix you, but it wasn't gonna be, like, over the top. You know, it was gonna be quite simplistic. And it had to be simple because it felt like it had all the complexities before of the bomb and the whole kind of thing happening.

25:11Sonja KlausRight.

25:11Jawad MirAnd the realization of, "Fuck, I'm covered in human bits." You know, I mean, none of us, neither of us, we can't imagine what that's like. And so I wanted to calm everything. You know, it was... I said to Ridley, "We need to just, gotta calm it. Let's calm down. Let's make it, you know, calming down." You know, I wasn't expecting Nurse Ratched to walk in, you know, 'cause that wouldn't be calm. But, yeah, that was the idea behind that.

25:39Sonja KlausYeah, and it, and it showed that very much. And I think the, you were, you used the word, heaven, which certainly comes through in those scenes. Because after all the chaos, all the blood that's going on, that really kind of... It also, it also humbles down the character as well…

25:55Jawad MirYes

25:55Sonja Klaus... Like, he comes, you know, completely at a, kinda like a home kind of environment.

25:59Jawad MirWell, he's quite, he's quite, you know, if you watch Le… you know, Leo's character is quite chaotic, isn't he?

26:04Sonja KlausYeah.

26:05Jawad MirHe's quite, "Ooh." You know, he's kind of like that. And so you gotta slow that down, because then you get the total contrast of Mark, you know, Mark Strong playing Hani. And he's very calculating, and you wouldn't wanna mess with me because I could shoot your whole family. In fact, I did that at lunch. You know, and he's much more like that. And so his office had to be more grown up. Like, you know, the scene in the, in, with the big table and with the boardroom, then he's sitting outside in that sort of French style garden.

26:37Jawad MirYou know, I wanted Hani to have, there's an elegance about him. He had this sort of beautiful, everything about him had to be lovely. You know, I was determined that everything about Hani was just lovely. You know, because that was the whole point, that he was this... And you can't work out whether he's a goodie or a baddie, can you? You're like, "Is he a goodie or a baddie? I'm not sure what he is." And, you know, you wanna believe that he's there to help, but you kind of think, "I'm, I'm not so sure." But I wanted him, he had to be posh. You know, I was like, "He, everything about him is gonna be posh." Like, his cups are gonna be posh. You know, his office that he sits in is gonna be posh. You know, it's all gonna be lovely. And it's gonna be simple, but it's gonna be lovely, and frightfully expensive, and have a little bit of a French twist, you know, because I wanted that. I did want a bit of that. You know, it was almost like the Maison Frontier. You know, it was that sort of bringing a bit of that kind of history, a bit of that thing into it. The legionnaires, you know, it's that.

27:39Sonja KlausRight. And to add to that, I think what you're talking about the, his, world versus Leo's world, that clearly comes across in the final scene when he's about to walk out and the doors are supposed to sl… are about to slide open. He's like…

27:56Jawad MirYes

27:57Sonja Klaus... "If you, if you walk out of here." Like, he's going to his world, which is…

28:01Jawad MirYes

28:01Sonja Klaus... You know, in the, in the Western eyes, it's, like, chaotic world, but it's not. That's just the way it is in their culture.

28:06Jawad MirYeah.

28:06Sonja KlausAnd, you know, so it... And I, that came across, so I'm glad you mentioned that because I really enjoyed that contrast between the characters of the two.

28:14Jawad MirWell, it was very mu… that was very much meant to be the intention.

28:17Sonja KlausYeah.

28:17Jawad MirYou know, that was meant to be…

28:19Sonja KlausNo, it came across

28:20Jawad Mir... You know,.. And then, you know, 'cause then you, 'cause you got the asshole of Russell. You know, he's playing that asshole character. You know, there's that. And, but also, y… you know, if you're watching the film as well, I tried to do... I remember when we went and we did the American Embassy.

28:38Jawad MirYou know, I went on the recce's and we went to various buildings. And then I, you know, when I was with there, I mean, Arthur was obviously there as well, but he, you know, and he got involved. Like he did. And we arrived to that big building, and that was a, that building was empty. And I said, you know, to Ridley, I said, "I think we've gotta say the Americans are here. You know, they're here." So I put those big flagpoles up with the very big American flags. You know, there was a whole thing. I wanted them to be, like, almost too big, but not comedy too big.

29:20Jawad MirThey just had to be like, "We are here." You know, it was that sort of thing. And then when you went in the embassy, the whole thing with the windows, you know, with the big shapes on the windows, you probably noticed in it. You know, that was all part of the shiny floors. Like, I mean, we did, I did do quite a few, interiors in there, which didn't all make it. But I remember when I got the, I can't remember what the boat was, but I managed to get that painting of that big, destroyer. The, you know, the famous destroyer, the…

29:53Jawad Mir... You know…

29:54Sonja KlausThe mi… the mid

29:56Jawad MirHS… MS… a… what's it called? The big, you know, the massive, you know, the famous big massive, the biggest, destr… you know, destroyer in the American Navy. Anyway, I got the painting for that. And, then someone said to me, "Oh, I've got this model that you, we..." And we, I don't know how we found it, but we found a model.

30:16Sonja KlausIt's, sorry, it's DDG-1000. It's called Zumwalt class destroyer, if that's what you're talking…

30:21Jawad MirYeah, that's it. That's it. So we got…

30:22Sonja KlausSorry, go on.

30:23Jawad MirYeah, so I got the painting, and then I thought, "This is meant to be the, you know, the, like, sort of Pentagon-y type." You know, it's the American Embassy, but we all know it's all spies. And so when we did all the offices, you know, it was quite important that there was the sort of... 'Cause America, when America goes to another country, it's America, right? So everything in it has to be American. It's not, you know, so it was important that it was, I was showing America You know, so you go inside it and, like, any of the, any of the textiles or anything, American. You know, any desk, it was American. You know…

31:01Jawad Mir... We had those, I had those chairs. You know, I've forgotten what they're called. I ha… I got Fanos to find those. And, you know, like the wall coverings, the colors of the walls, it's, you know, it's what you'd have in America in an office, in the office in, you know, in… in… in the embassy. You know, it's what you'd have. You know, it's what you'd have. And all the graphics, everything, you know? And I actually, I did quite like doing it because I love that there was one, I don't know if it ma… I can't remember if it's in the film or not, but we, in there was this big hall, and it was where the, thing is that you have to go through to be, scanned. The…

31:37Sonja KlausThe security, yeah

31:38Jawad Mir... The security thing. And I remember putting it, I… I went in this big, there was this big hall. It was like an exhibition place, I think we went to. And I, and I said, "Oh," I said, "We gotta put it in here." You know, 'cause you come in and you just go, "Whoa," like that. And I remember, I think it was Arthur, he went, "Well, what are you gonna put on the walls?" And I just went, "We're gonna have some Marines with big guns." And I said, you know, "That's gonna go, don't mess with us." 'Cause you see a Marine, don't you? You see those Marines…

32:06Sonja KlausYeah

32:06Jawad Mir... Like when you go to the American Embassy. Y… I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna go, "Hey, dude, you've got, like, something like..." I mean, you're not gonna do that, are you? 'Cause they're gonna just go, like they're gonna, like, crush you 'cause they're so scary. And I was like, "You don't need to cover it. You don't need loads of stuff." I mean, I did some plants. I think I got some quite big plants and put them there from memory, but, you know, in… in… in… in sterilized containers, you know? It's that kind of tortured, sort of topiary type, tortured kind of stuff. And I love the shiny floor and the idea of that sound. You know when you get that sound of shoes?

32:44Jawad MirYou know the shoes that… that… that… that… that they're putting on because they think they look right with their suit, but they make a weird sound, don't they? There's that sound, and you hear that sound coming, and it's a s… it's that noise squeaking along, going along like, you know. I don't know. And maybe just a sort of bench that just looks so uncomfortable, you just would never really sit in it or on it. You know, it's that, it's like, "We don't want you to sit on it 'cause we don't want you to stay."

33:11Sonja KlausI have been to several US embassies across the world for one of my films, screenings in different places, and I can tell you that the way that was in the film comes very close to it. It… it…

33:26Jawad MirYeah

33:26Sonja Klaus... It really does. Because you see a lot of flags, you see a lot of benches, you see a lot of security, you see the metal detector, and you see these…

33:35Jawad MirYes

33:35Sonja Klaus... S… square, rectangular-type rooms…

33:38Jawad MirYes

33:39Sonja Klaus... That had…

33:39Jawad MirIt's all square and rectangular.

33:40Sonja KlausYeah.

33:40Jawad MirLike, "We don't want you to be comfortable. You're not gonna stay."

33:43Sonja KlausYeah. 100%. So it wa… it was pretty spot on, from that standpoint.

33:48Jawad MirI mean, we were very lucky. The building was great, and we added, you know, those trefoils o… on the outside to give it that sort of pattern. That actually came from an idea because I had a book, on architecture, and I think there's a building in Oman or... I ca… I can't remember what it's called, but there's a building, and I s… I showed it to Ridley and Arthur, and I said, "Oh, well, look at this. This is in..." Because it's that Musha Arabiya, you know, the sort of like the, that pat…

34:13Jawad Mir... You know, that s… they look like doilies, don't they? It's like, sort of, you know. And I said, I said, "I just feel that we need to have this sort of big pattern, you know, because I think they would do that." And weirdly, you see buildings now, and they do that quite a lot. You know, it's quite a thing, isn't it? Because you get that sort of pattern inside.

34:31Jawad MirYou know, and it's a, you know, it's a, it's one particular architect. I can't remember who does it, but yeah. I mean, it wasn't, even though it was a, you know, e… even though it was a sort of espionage kind of, you know, the whole story with the film is that you could argue and say, "Oh, yeah, I read the script." You know, a bit like the script you gave me for yours. You know, you could read that and go and argue and just say, "Oh, well, you know, it's not really that complicated," and, you know, you gotta find a, you know, some offices and a corridor and a... And it's like, I don't look at it like that. I look at it like, you gotta, there's gotta be the why. There's always got to be the why, hasn't there? You know, because that's what makes it. That's why I loved One Battle After Another because I really enjoyed the location choices. I think I told you that before.

35:20Sonja KlausYes.

35:20Jawad MirI really enjoyed the location choices because, like that scene where, Sean Penn says to that girl, "So am I your father?" And they're in that massive room.

35:30Sonja KlausMassive church-type room, yeah.

35:32Jawad MirYeah, and it's a churchy-type room which is... And he's standing there with all his, and he's saying it, "So am I your father?" You know. And I was like, oh, my God, that couldn't be more perfect. I mean, it was, it was... And that was the cho… that was a choice that was made. And you could argue and go, oh, you could have played that scene in a corridor or outside, you know? But no, you see, no, he didn't do that. You know, and I, you know, I said we t… argued about many things. There was a hotel that we did. I di… I don't think it made the cut. We, I had to redo this whole hotel, and I wanted it to have that Western. You know, it had to have that, you know, he's been through all this chaos and been around in this world, and he's, you know, met the nurse and he's been in slums and, you know, he's run away and, you know, he's been dodging fucking drones and whatever else. And then you get to this hotel and I, and I was like, it's gotta be that, like... And you've got people coming in with their passports going, "I'd like to check in, please."

36:32Jawad MirYou know, and the… and it's almost a comedy moment, isn't it? With all the mad, weird shit that's going on, and then there's this comedy moment of Mr. And Mrs. Jones have come for their weekend and, you know, away on holiday in this five-star hotel. And, I just remember all of that and the rooms that we used at the back, you know? And, it was really important to have, like, of some of the eating scenes, especially with Hani, you had to have this… There had to be this white tablecloth. You know, it had to be a silver teapot. You know, because it was that, it had to be like he was saying, "This is how it is really. It's all like this really. It's not like that. It's like this." And, you know, and so I tried very hard to try to get that to come across, and I think they did that well with his suits. I wasn't so mad about... I thought his wig could have had a little bit, you know, it was, it used to bother me at the back. But I mean, I thought overall, I mean, I love Mark anyway. I think Mark is...

37:33Jawad MirI love Mark. I'll watch Mark strong in anything. You know, I think he's great.

37:37Sonja KlausYeah.

37:37Jawad MirHe's, he's like a chameleon, isn't he? He can just do anything. And I love him, and he's so elegant and, I just love his face. You know, and he's, he was great. And Leo is amazing. I mean, he is an amazing actor. And Russell, I mean…

37:53Sonja KlausHe is

37:54Jawad Mir... It was so great to be with Russell and Leo and Mark. You know, it's like, and also the lady that played the nurse, you know, that played the doctor. I mean, she was brilliant.

38:04Sonja KlausYeah. She, see, I actually looked her up. So she looks very familiar with an actress from India…

38:11Jawad MirYes, she does

38:11Sonja Klaus... Who's very, who's very big now, who's kind of getting big now, but she's Iranian, so they look almost identical…

38:17Jawad MirYeah

38:18Sonja Klaus... In terms of

38:19Jawad MirShe's…

38:19Sonja KlausBut yeah, no

38:21Jawad MirAnd then there was total contrast again between her, you know, where she did her medicine and provided her medicine. There was the sort of, you know, there was the chaos of her rooms, you know, with like smaller rooms, everything in there. You know, it was all practical. You know, and she says, "Oh, lie down. You better sit there and I'll do..." You know, she was, you know, she was the maison de frontiere, wasn't she? She was that kind of, you know, that person. And it had to be different and darker, and it had to feel more ethnic, you know, far more ethnic and with it. And the same with where she lived with her mother.

39:00Sonja KlausYeah.

39:00Jawad MirWith her mother and her sister. So we went through some weird stuff with that. That was quite weird, that flat. I g… I'm... Author wanted me to do it, you know, very traditional Arab kind of, you know, young girls living with their mother. It was still very much the parents' home. And you know, he wanted the Quran on the wall and, you know, they had the sofas. You know, you know the sort of thing, the textas…

39:24Sonja KlausYeah

39:25Jawad Mir... The whole, you know. And it's a little bit, it's not young, is it? It's k… it's kind of like an older person's sort of place and, you know, he want… he wanted... And I understand why he was, you know, sort of saying that because he was sort of saying, you know, it's the mother's place and the children, the girls live with the mother. And then Ridley of course turns up, and I've done it like that, and then Ridley turns up and I was never really sure myself. I just was thinking, "I kind of feel like these two girls in a way are, they're far more Western." She feels far more Western to me, and she would have like some modern stuff. You know, I just feel like they would have cooler things, 'cause they're older and they'd go…

40:09Sonja KlausYeah

40:09Jawad Mir... "Look, Mommy, you know, we don't want that old granny's china that you've got. You know, we got this from Habitat," or whatever. And sure enough, he walks in and he goes, "Now, Sonia, what's this?" And I just went, "" And funnily, I've never had him to ever cross me on a set, ever, not once. Not once. But that was the set. And I looked at him and I went, I said, "Well, the feeling was it was the mother's place and they were staying there." And he was going, "No. No. It's got to be young and modern." It was Ramadan.

40:48Jawad MirAnd it was…

40:49Sonja KlausWell done

40:50Jawad Mir... It was Ramadan. Do you think shops are open on, do you think…

40:56Sonja KlausNo. No, nothing is open during Ramadan usually.

40:57Jawad MirDo you think there's lots of, do you think there's like IKEA down the road?

41:02Sonja KlausYeah. I did not know that even though I am Muslim. When I was gonna go to Jordan for location scouting, I found out…

41:08Jawad MirI thought so

41:09Sonja Klaus... It's, everything is shut down during Ramadan. I'm like, "Oh, geez."

41:12Jawad MirIt is. It's shut. And I was like, I just stood there and I went, "No problem." And I had a friend who was in London, and I rang her up literally two minutes later and I went, "I'm gonna g… I need you to go. Get your credit card, I'll pay you back. Spend 500 quid, 1,000 pounds, I don't care. I'm gonna book you a ticket now. You're gonna be on a flight tomorrow at lunchtime. You're coming to Rabat." And she went, "What?" And I said, "You're coming to Rabat." I said, "I need you to go to Zara home now," 'cause it was like…... It was in the lunchtime. I said, "You need to go to Zara now." And I said, "I want you to get this, and this." And I, and I went online and I was looking whilst I was, and I was going to her, "Get... Oh, they've got these things." And I said, "Just spend a grand. I don't know, I don't care. Spend two grand and get, take a suitcase with you and wrap it up in the shop."

42:02Sonja KlausWow.

42:03Jawad MirShe got on the plane. I got her on the plane. Do you think I said anything about that? Of course I didn't. I just, when Ridley turned up and went, "Oh, this is great," I went, "Oh yeah, I had some things in the prop room."

42:16Sonja KlausSo how does that, I mean, I'm just kind of curious very quickly if you can, in terms of the budget, like how does that work? Does that come out of your salary?

42:24Jawad MirYeah.

42:24Sonja KlausReally?

42:25Jawad MirI had to like…

42:25Sonja KlausOh my God.

42:25Jawad MirYeah, of course. I had to, I had to hide her. I paid for her t… air ticket. To be fair, I used the Chi… you know, they paid, the China got, came out of my float, but I paid her air ticket, 'cause how was I gonna fudge the…

42:37Sonja KlausYeah

42:37Jawad Mir... And she stayed in my hotel room. How was I gonna go and say, "Oh yeah, I need someone to go shopping in London"? They would, they would've gone, "No"…

42:46Sonja KlausNo

42:47Jawad Mir... Like that. And so I just, I just paid it. And then she came and stayed.

42:51Sonja KlausNo, that's good. That's good because, you know, directors and producers, they're always looking for a solution, not necessarily…

42:56Jawad MirYeah

42:56Sonja Klaus... How you get the solution to…

42:56Jawad MirWell, they don't, you can't... Oh, I, oh, trust me, I know how to play the game

43:01Sonja KlausI'm sure you do

43:02Jawad Mir... I mean, you know, I know how to play the game, but I, you know, and I got them to pay for the China, and then it was really funny because she was… we shot the scene that Monday…

43:10Sonja KlausYeah

43:10Jawad Mir... And she was going back, and I said, "Oh, can you s… can you..." I got her a flexible ticket, and I said, "Oh, can you stay a couple of days?" And she went, "Oh, why?" And I said, "'Cause we need to take some of the stuff back."

43:23Sonja KlausWow.

43:23Jawad MirAnd she took some of it back, and I got some money back.

43:30Sonja KlausWow. Well, I mean, it pays dividends, you know, for future work and in many other different ways that you never see, so…

43:36Jawad MirI don't, I don't do that very often, but I had to in that particular instance.

43:39Sonja KlausYeah. Well, it's, it was, it was…

43:40Jawad MirYou know, it was necessary to get... I had to do it. I had, it ha… I had to get a set, you know? It was Ramadan. What was I gonna do?

43:47Sonja KlausYeah. Yeah. No, 100%. Kudos to you. Kudos to you. That's awesome. Well, thank you, Sonia. I really appreciate your time. I wish we could talk more, but, you know, it's been lovely as always talking to you. I don't know how many times we've chatted, four or five times.

44:03Jawad MirWell…

44:04Sonja KlausAnd, it hopefully…

44:05Jawad MirI do quite like it 'cause you remind me... 'Cause I don't, I don't, you know, I don't always remember, you know how you don't always remember everything, and then when you talk about, you bring s… and then suddenly I go, "Oh, yeah, I remember that day," you know? And you don't necessarily naturally remember it, do you? But then when you mentioned the hospital, and I remember that day, and it was such a… the weather was amazing. And I remember lunch, and we sat and had lunch, and it was a, it was really delicious lunch, and it was so cheap, and we couldn't think out where to go and... 'Cause we were always trying to think how we would feed ourselves 'cause the sets, you know, we were like, you know, it wasn't always in the best place. And it was that day when we were dressing that hospital…

44:47Jawad Mir... And we were going around, and I was cleaning up, and I re… I just remember shooting it, you know. And of course, when the shooting crew, all the toilets turn up, and it's all very nice. But it was, it was really lovely because the prop men, you know, they knew some of the people in some of the restaurants and the hotels, so I had like, we had, like, our own... But we didn't tell anybody. You know, we didn't go like, "Oh, we, you know, we've had actually a really nice lunch." and it was actually, and it was by the sea. We were by the sea, and I just remember it was... I don't know. I loved it.

45:19Sonja KlausI, listen, anytime we chat, the amount of detail stories that you have, I'll be very honest with you, it's probably the only time, I've done, like, two hun… 294 episodes of this show, I talk the least when I'm talking to you. That's not because you talk a lot. That's just because you have such wonderful stories, and I'm just sitting here listening to them.

45:39Jawad MirOh, no.

45:40Sonja KlausSo it's amazing. I really appreciate that. I really do.

45:43Jawad MirWell, I try to remember, you know, you try to... Well, because, you weren't there, and I was, so I try to…

45:50Sonja KlausOf course

45:50Jawad Mir... Think about how I can share that, how I can take you there. You know, that's…

45:54Sonja KlausAnd you do a great job in doing that, trust me

45:55Jawad Mir... The whole reasoning. But, you know, I'm trying to take you to the moment so you understand the why of why I did it and how I did it and, you know, what preceded.

46:09Sonja KlausYeah, no, it's, it's always amazing. And I get all the visuals when I'm talking to you. I'm taken on this journey, and I'm developing visuals in my head, which is called storytelling, so you're awesome at it.

46:19Jawad MirThat is called storytelling. That is absolutely right. And so I'm gonna see you when I get back…

46:25Sonja KlausYes

46:26Jawad Mir... On that day, and, we're gonna talk about you, and we're gonna do your homework.

46:33Sonja KlausSounds good.

46:35Jawad MirYeah.

46:35Sonja KlausLooking forward to that. I might, I might throw in some questions tomorrow I ha… may have on WhatsApp, and just nothing to do with the script, just, the toning, the tone…

46:44Jawad MirOkay

46:44Sonja Klaus... Document and everything. Just if you can give me some insights since you wrote that…

46:48Jawad MirOkay. I'm gonna tell you one thing about your tone document.

46:51Sonja KlausSure.

46:51Jawad MirSo don't... When you wanna, 'cause you'll wanna talk about the characters, 'cause you will, so you'll put some images. So be very mindful about how you do those images of the people. So don't necessarily just go, "I really want this actress"…

47:07Sonja KlausYeah

47:07Jawad Mir... And you put a picture of the actress you want. Don't do that. Because I will tell you why. Because a lot of producers and people who put money in, or if you get, if you're involved with a studio or whatever, let's just say whatever…

47:19Jawad Mir... They always have their own, they like to sort of, they like to cock their leg on it themselves.

47:26Sonja KlausYeah. Yeah.

47:26Jawad MirSo you need to let them do that. So you need to, especially with the actors and actresses, the cast, try to sort of... You can even pick images of people that are not actors as long as it gives you the right tone of that person. You know, it could even be a picture of yourself as a child if there's a child in it. I'm giving you an example.

47:47Sonja KlausSure.

47:47Jawad MirIf you feel that is the right tone to express who that character is, because it's not... You have written a character and created a character, and what happens is if you put an actor in that people know, and you go, "I want that one. I want Brad Pitt," they're gonna start to think automatically Brad Pitt. That just…

48:09Jawad Mir... Is what happens. Or they'll be like, "Well, we don't want, we don't like, we don't use Brad Pitt. We don't like Brad Pitt. We don't use." So you need to think a little bit more outside the box. Like, you could pick, 'cause of your knowledge, you know, you might find there are some Indian or Iranian or, I'm just throwing this out there, or there could be people in Canada that you know you like. You know, and I'm just saying that because that was a comment that was made to us when we did In God's Name, that one that I did with Luke, and, you know, that, the one in the s… about Suleiman the Great.

48:43Jawad MirThere were co… the comment that was made by one of the, I think it was by A… I think it was by s… Sky. They were like, "Oh, so you seem to be..." At the, at the first time they saw it, 'cause they saw it a couple of times, and it's someone from Sky. It wasn't at Sky, but they had worked at Sky, and they, their comment was, they said, "You should really be mindful about how you do that, how you handle the cast." So think more tone. Just think more… or it could be someone, a character that you've seen in a film. So you could have watched a film and seen a character in a film and gone, "I fucking love that character. There's something about that character that I feel would work," does something for me. Or it could be…

49:28Sonja KlausYeah

49:28Jawad Mir... The costume they're wearing, or it could be a shot of the side of their face or... And it just, and it, and it's not, that's not who you want, but it's just that's the tone.

49:39Sonja KlausGot it. That makes sense. That makes sense.

49:41Jawad MirI don't know if I ex… but I…

49:43Sonja KlausNo, you did. I did. You did. I have a, I think three or four choices of actors, and mainly because, not because they're, I like them, but also each of the characters they're playing, they're... Like, for example, the couple that sort of, not together, right?

50:01Jawad MirYes.

50:01Sonja KlausThe guy, the guy who I want to play, let's say, the protagonist and his ex-wife…

50:07Jawad MirYeah

50:07Sonja Klaus... They're both in real life, those actors have had broken marriages, and they both…

50:11Jawad MirOkay

50:11Sonja Klaus... Have daughters, right?

50:12Jawad MirYeah.

50:12Sonja KlausSo I'm thinking in that sense too.

50:14Jawad MirYeah.

50:14Sonja KlausSo I'll add that as well. But this is really helpful. Thank…

50:16Jawad MirYeah. So just, j… I just, I just know that was a note that... And I know that's something that gets adhered to because we've been… I had to do that when I did Every Thread, you know, 'cause I was, like, thinking I want Mark Strong to play Mike Herlio. And but I haven't put a picture of Mark Strong.

50:32Sonja KlausGot it. No, that makes sense.

50:33Jawad MirI do really want him as my demon. He will be... I've already told him anyway. I saw him and I went, "I've written a script for you." Like, "Thanks, darling." Because he would be perfect. But, you know, I might, I mean, and I, and I might get him because I know him, but it's just, you know... But I didn't put a picture of him, you know. I purposely... I did something else, actually. I, weirdly, I used a stained glass image. So you don't have to... So, like, you could see, there could be, like, for one of your characters, you, it could be a Henry Moore sculpture. It could be a, just, it could be a, it could be someone in a painting. It could be a sculpture. It could be, it could be a pencil drawing someone's done. It could be, a watercolor. It could be, you know, it doesn't have…

51:17Sonja KlausAny kind of art form.

51:18Jawad MirYes. But it, but it needs to relate, you know. It can't be just…

51:22Sonja KlausTo the tone

51:22Jawad Mir... You can't just go, "Oh, I'm gonna put a picture of, you know, a close-up of a Kandinsky," 'cause that's how I think…

51:27Sonja KlausYeah

51:27Jawad Mir... Their brains are. It's like, it's kind of, that's a bit, that's a bit too arty-farty.

51:34Sonja KlausNo, I get it. I get it. I'm gonna, I'm gonna get onto that too, and hopefully what I'll do is by May 13, I will go through the script a couple of times as well. I won't change anything because that's the version that you have, but I'll just make some notes about what I may have, may think that is not working or…

51:51Jawad MirI think there's a couple of scenes that I'm gonna probably suggest to you that I think you should move. It's not a big thing. It's just the way that you've done it in the... And it could just, it, yeah, it could change itself just with the way, the way you've written it, without going into too much. Yeah.

52:13Sonja KlausOkay. Okay.

52:13Jawad MirWe just need to talk, we need to talk about the dialogue a bit together, 'cause you've done a bit of funny, speak. I'm not quite sure what... And that's why I need you to read it out loud, 'cause I don't know if you're trying to write a dialect or something. I'm not quite sure what you were doing. So we need to just talk about that.

52:29Sonja KlausSounds good. Sounds good. I appreciate it. Thank you.

52:33Jawad Mir'Cause you, 'cause you can speak English. I've heard you.

52:36Sonja KlausI apparently can.

52:37Jawad MirVery well.

52:39Sonja KlausI appar… You know, it's funny, I have avoided writing scripts all my life because I know my writing skills are not that great, and when I wrote Whispers in Time, and I have a DP…

52:53Jawad MirBut strange you didn't do it in that. Weirdly, I'm not... You didn't do it in that.

52:58Sonja KlausI don't know what it was, but Whispers in Time, my DP has been my friend for 20 years, and he's someone I have worked with him so many times on so many different projects. I'm, can never impress the guy, right? And we were in Poland. We were doing location scouting, and he just casually goes to me, he goes, "Oh, by the way, I read your script. It's probably one of the best scripts I've read that comes to me." I'm like, "Whoa," right? So that really gave me confidence. It really did.

53:23Jawad MirYes.

53:23Sonja KlausAnd that's why I wrote this, 'cause I figure maybe I have something in me in terms of writing, although…

53:29Jawad MirYou do. So you have a... So the style of the short is quite different to the style of this, okay? It's different, but at the same time, there are elements of it where I feel like, and it's only, I perhaps can say this 'cause I know you a bit, and I feel like I can tell that it's you, but there's parts of it where I feel in the short, you're blending. I can't explain it. I don't know how. When we go through it, we… you'll see what I mean.

54:03Sonja KlausGot it. Perfect. Looking forward to it.

54:04Jawad MirAnyway, you better go. You've gotta go. You've gotta go. You've gotta go.

54:06Sonja KlausYes, I gotta go. Thank you so much, honey.

54:08Jawad MirYou gotta go. Okay. So I'm gonna see you in a couple…

54:10Sonja KlausEnjoy your... Yes, enjoy your time with your mom, please.

54:12Jawad MirI will, and I'll see you very soon.

54:15Sonja KlausTake care. Bye-bye.

54:15Jawad MirOkay. Bye.