KHALID Abdalla talks about the research he carried out to play the key role of the adult Amir in The Kite Runner and some of the controversy surrounding the film.

He also talks about the painful learning process of flying a kite and why it was important to keep the film in its native tongue…

Q. Had you read the book before being approached for the film?
Khalid Abdalla: I hadn’t read it before I was asked to audition. Funnily enough, I was asked to audition the day after the premiere of United 93 in New York. I then bought the book and very soon after that I read it in one sitting. I thought it was a beautiful, beautiful book and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the character of Amir.

Q. You spent a month in Kabul researching the role, didn’t you?
Khalid Abdalla: I spent a month in Afghanistan – mostly in Kabul but I also travelled to the North and Bamyan. I was having four or five lessons of Dari [he language spoken in Afghanistan] a day because when I arrived I suddenly realised I had to get my head around a language that I had no knowledge of. I also went everywhere referenced in the book and ate everything referenced in the book.

Part of my travelling in the north took me to The Salang Pass, which is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. At the time of year I was there, you go through it and there are these lush valleys of green and snow capped mountains in the distance. The path crosses the Hindu Kush and at that point you begin to understand why it was such a huge hippie destination in the ’70s [laughs]. Bamyan is also a predominantly Hazra province [it’s the cultural capital] so it afforded me a greater understanding of their culture and traditions. So, somehow out of all of that, I came out of the experiences speaking the language, which was a surprise to me.

Q. How difficult was it to master?
Khalid Abdalla: It’s as difficult as it sounds and yet not as difficult as it sounds. The vocabulary is 40 to 50% Arabic in origin, which I speak, but the grammar is entirely different. When I was first cast, I was asked if I could speak Farsi [an Indo-European language spoken in Iran, Afghanistan] and how close it was to Arabic. But the grammar is very simple – it’s like English in that you don’t have grammatical gender for nouns. So, once you’re in with the grammar, the language blossoms in front of you. Likewise, the palette of sounds you need to speak or imitate… I already had a complete knowledge of them in Arabic.

Q. How important was that lengthy research in retrospect?
Khalid Abdalla: Well, it all comes from the fact that I know how it feels to be misrepresented and how it can hurt – to have a situation where an inconsequential detail, like the style of a carpet or dress, or the type of gun used, is more important than how a whole region speaks. Having had that experience, I had to go in and give everything I had to ensure that I’m as indistinguishable as possible from an Afghan. And based on the reaction I have had from Afghans that have seen the film, that’s what I have done because some of them don’t realise I’m not Afghanistan.

What was also crucial about it was that it built a sense of familiarity, nostalgia and love that you need to appreciate what it’s like. Although I have a very different background, I do come from a bi-cultural household. I’m firmly British but my parents are Egyptian and I have been to Egypt twice a year since I was two. And even though Egypt and Afghanistan are very different, there are some similarities. It’s a huge part of Amir that he grew up in the United States, and I grew up here [in the UK], but I lived in a household that was speaking two different languages, as was Amir.

Q. Did that greater understanding make it more or less of a surprise that there’s so much controversy surrounding the book and the film? Were you surprised that Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada, the young boy who plays Hassan, has had to be removed from Afghanistan amid concerns for his safety?
Khalid Abdalla: There have been concerns raised for the safety of [all] the kids and – as it should be – the matter has been taken very seriously. We don’t know whether there’ll be an adverse reaction but there could be. So, as a result they have been taken out [of the country] during the release of the film and onwards, until the situation can be assessed properly. I’m very hopeful there won’t be any adverse reaction especially because the kids are very important to me and to everyone who worked with them. I learned to fly a kite with them in Kabul.

But I think part of what it’s dealing with is the force of negative hearsay. At first glance, it’s a very sensational story – not The Kite Runner itself, but the story of what’s going on surrounding the film. If all you hear is “rape scene, rape scene” and “Hollywood film” and you’re not used to being represented by Hollywood, then it’s very easy to jump to the wrong conclusion. But for anyone that’s seen the flm, it’s clear it’s not the case. It’s been my experience that Afghans who have seen it that I’ve met love it, across the board. I remember one woman in particular stood up after a screening and said: “Thank you, I feel represented.” And that’s the spirit in which the flm’s been made.

It’s based on a book that was written by an Afghan [Khaled Hosseini]. It’s part of his cultural experience and what he’s familiar with and the story, at its heart, is a family story that happens to be set in Afghanistan. But it’s also a country that at one point had over six million refugees, so if you think of the stories and trauma that means, a story like The Kite Runner becomes a drop in the ocean. But the film is part of redressing that balance and making more people aware and it’s one of the reasons that I’m so proud to be a part of it.

Q. How difficult was it to pick up kite flying and do you still fly them?
Khalid Abdalla: Well, it’s a bit rainy in London [laughs]. Prior to doing the film, I was the kind of eprson who’d pick up the kite when it’s already flying and then watch it just flop to the ground almost straight away. Now I’m not that person! I learned to fly it in Kabul and it was great. But I’ve still got scars on my fingers from learning. It took me a while to understand the kite fighting because you assume that you’re fighting with the kite when actually it’s the string. The kite guides the string. So, basically to cut someone else’s string you need two things: for the kite to be running as fast as possible, so that the string becomes razor-sharp, and to be able to turn it in different directions, so that it kind of Chinese burns the other person’s string – and that means you’re also doing that to your hand! So, when learning, you almost have to build up calluses on your hand and try to find places on your fingers that aren’t going over old wounds. They’re all battle scars, though, so you’re proud to wear them. But I learned on Afghan kites, which are made of paper, and they’re harder to fly in wet conditions. I’d love to fly one again though.

Q. What was the most difficult or challenging thing to film because The Kite Runner isn’t afraid to tackle controversy head-on?
Khalid Abdalla: There’s only really one scene that comes to mind when I’m asked that – there were lots of challenges obviously, but the fight scene. I had a 39 degree temperature when we were filming and you don’t want that when you’re doing a fight scene like that. We were also at the end of our journey out of the main city, Kashgar, and the whole crew were tired. We had been living in this beautiful village but the crew were in tents and we were on the highest highway in the world and it was freezing. Everyone was catching colds and I just happened to get it on the day it was most important not to catch it!

Q. Dustin Hoffman recently described Marc Forster as an incredible talent who has total clarity of vision on his films [ they worked together on Stranger Than Fiction]. Do you agree?
Khalid Abdalla: That’s a great way of putting it because he does have total clarity of vision. But he also organises his set in a way that’s as helpful as can be to actors. He kind of lies in wait for you and just follows your rhythm, which is an incredibly supportive thing to do. So, at the same time as the challenge is always huge, you’re in a comfortable area to go as far as you can possibly go.

Q. I would imagine that clarity of vision and determination proved invaluable when it came to fighting to ensure the film remained in English and Farsi?
Khalid Abdalla: When Marc read the book he said he could never imagine kids in 1970s Kabul talking in English to each other! This is the first Hollywood film about Afghanistan and it would be wrong not to do it authentically. It would have been a huge opportunity missed. Without doing that we wouldn’t have had the wealth of experience that flowed into the production as a result. Casting people from Afghanistan that have actually been through the 30 years we cover meant you got first-hand experience of that time. Even casting Iranian actors, you’re still bringing invaluable experience form that part of the world. That’s how Marc, who’s Swiss, managed to do this.

The Kite Runner is a film that’s been made by people that are all bi-cultural. It helps to ensure that the film has the same emotional impact as the book, which means you come out feeling the same things as you felt when reading it even though there are some differences.

Q. What’s next for you?
Khalid Abdalla: I’m waiting on something that will hopefully start in January but it’s not signed and sealed yet, so I don’t want to jinx it. It’s another film, though.

Q. You have a background in theatre. Is that something you’re still going to try to balance with your growing film work?
Khalid Abdalla: Theatre is something that’s really important to me. In fact, you can hardly call yourself a British actor without working on the stage. At the moment I’ve been given an opportunity in film that I’m trying to consolidate. But I also really want to do a play again.

b>Read our review of The Kite Runner

b>Read our interview with Marc Forster

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