The 26-year-old speaks English with a Palestinian accent in
the war film. "I'm lucky, I can do accents well. I can
listen and I can repeat what people say. So Julian set me on
a mission - I didn't have an accent coach, I had real people
to learn from. I went to the old city of Jerusalem, stayed with
a Palestinian family for eight days.
"I also went to the orphanage where Rula grew up. I picked
up whatever I could from the students and local people. I recorded
everything and found out words that are common and found my
own accent. That's my take on my Palestinian accent," she
said.
The actress says she doesn't have to prove anything to anybody
back home and hopes Indians watch "Miral" since it
talks about peace.
"I never had to prove myself while doing 'Slumdog…'
either. When the film went out, it did the best it could and
did really well and that's the story of my life. I didn't have
to go out of my way to prove a point in my first film, I don't
have to do it in any film," said Freida.
"I would definitely want to show 'Miral' to India, but
not to prove a point...the film (is) about peace which is so
relevant in my country and in the countries that are warring
or have some kind of conflict with neighbouring countries,"
she said.
Freida also got lucky to work with star Hollywood filmmaker
Woody Allen in "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger".
"I auditioned for Woody Allen's film too, quite contrary
to what people think that these roles just fell in my lap. He
saw me in 'Slumdog Millionaire' and thought I would be great
in that part. But he made me audition because he needed to know
I'd be able to do it.
"He is definitely very unique and a genius in what he
does. What's most amazing about him is that he will take up
serious and disturbing topics and punch the right amount of
humour in it, which makes the film so much enjoyable and less
depressing."
So what are the other international projects in her kitty?
"I have worked with Tarsem Singh in 'Immortals'. It's
a Greek epic. I play Phaedra, the oracle. Again there is no
ethnicity to the character - she could be from any part of the
world. The film is so multicultural that we never talk about
ethnicity, though we talk about Greek places. We shot in a studio
in Montreal and it's in English. I did speak a bit of ancient
Greek," she said.
"I also did a film called 'Rise Of The Apes' with Rupert
Wyatt. It's a prequel to 'Planet of the Apes'," Freida
said.
"Since I've taken acting as my profession, my ambition
is to keep doing it and keep getting better. So I guess, my
ambition is to enjoy life and enjoy my work as well," she
concluded.