They are Madame and Rabia in Mareike Engelhardt’s first feature film, Rabiawhich hits theaters on November 27, 2024. Meet an intense duo. Megan Northam and Lubna Azabal come together in a film about radicalization and how thousands of young girls are recruited and exploited by the terrorist group Daesh.
Franceinfo Culture: Your characters are emotionally, politically and socially strong. Why did you agree to camp them?
Megan Northam : It’s complete. It’s a gift to have a role like that. A role is not just a written role or the choice of an actress. It all lies in how we manage to make connections between who we are and the role. What excited me about this role was the fact that he was so far from me regarding his departure for Syria. I found it interesting to dig into these things that are not in my world and in my life. My education is not at all related to these issues, I had to try to understand, without judging. I had started taking notes in my notebook when I met young girls who were in this situation, and I immediately put it down. There is no judgment to be had because it is a life story. They experienced what they experienced. They did what they did, and they are still alive today. I’m very happy that they are. I love taking risks and this was one for me.
Lubna Azabal : That’s why. For actresses, it’s holy bread. For me, it was also risk-taking, in another form. It was navigating the twists and turns of evil, power, madness and at the same time, the business world because Madame, my character, is a great businesswoman. None of these kids imagine, unless they are her right-hand woman, that every time she marries a young woman – or rather, has her raped – Madame receives an envelope. It’s like in all big sectarian structures. There is a speech for the recruits. We stop you from thinking, we explain to you how to eat, how to dress, we explain to you how things will happen until your death and even after. It’s brainwashing. With Madame, we are really in the Hitlerian evil for me.
Lubna Azabal, you filmed in Amala character who is the opposite of Madame…
Lubna Azabal : What I told Mareike from the start was that I didn’t want people to have empathy for this character. I wanted to caricature it to emphasize the absurdity it represents in my eyes. On the other hand, the character of Amal refers to the Samuel Paty affair. It is important for me, who am of Muslim culture, to be able to convey this word which is almost that of my parents. They have always practiced religion. It’s a way of putting the church back in the middle of the village. I don’t even know how to say it. It’s so important.
Megan Northam, you confided that the filming of Meanwhile on Earth had been decisive for you, particularly regarding your relationship with the body. The role of Rabia is also very physical, the character’s face says a lot about his state of mind. How did this experience help you Rabia ?
Megan Northam : It rather helped me start a burnout. I had a big depression. I almost didn’t Rabia because I was exhausted from the six months of filming Klapisch (Greek salad), followed by Meanwhile on Earth which was very physically and mentally taxing. I was talking to a voice in my head. I had to turn Rabia a week apart, then we shifted to two weeks then three… I almost gave up on this project because I was physically and mentally ill. I felt that I no longer had the weapons to defend this role which was an ocean liner. It was horrible because I knew I was letting down a team and passing up a role full of opportunities. Finally, I arrived on the set of Rabia exploded. I was very thin. Now I can say it: I find it so interesting to see how far humans can dig into their resources. After Rabia, I had a real depression as it should be: eight months without seeing anyone. In any role I do, I will put a lot of effort into it. My back is broken all the time. We often talk about stunts in cinema, but there are also roles like Rabia. It was physically demanding because of that soldier posture she has.
How did you work on this dominated-dominant relationship between Rabia and Madame?
Lubna Azabal : We didn’t rehearse, Megan and I. We had met for real. But we wanted to keep the freshness of our respective roles: Rabia in her naivety who wants to meet Madame, and me in the one who will have an extremely harsh look at her. Megan and I have the same instincts. We are passionate. We love our job.
Megan Northam : It always impresses me to work with an actress who has a longer career than me and who, as a result, always has the talent on set. There’s nothing worse than working with a 50-year-old actor or actress who doesn’t want to be there anymore. It’s not cool for those who arrive. Lubna was super generous on set. We were in the same boat.
Lubna Azabal : We don’t give up. Megan was strong because she was sometimes on the verge of burnout. He’s someone who reminds me of myself. We are going there, despite ourselves, at 120%.
