For Hiam Abbass, embarking on a creative path was 'a matter of life and death'

Palestinian actress on working with directors Steven Spielberg and Yousry Nasrallah and her new project with Ramy Youssef and Will Ferrell

Palestinian actress and film director Hiam Abbass at the opening ceremony of the fifth Amman International Film Festival. AFP

The filmography of Palestinian actress Hiam Abbass looms as loftily in Hollywood and the West as it does in the Arab world.

Yet, surprisingly, Abbass did not actively set out to become an actress. Her career was propelled by a mixture of happenstance and the restlessness she felt growing up in Deir Hanna, in the Israeli-controlled region of Galilee.

“I come from an educated family, where the notion of a woman achieving her potential was central to our upbringing. But even then, there was a limit,” Abbass said, detailing her journey in a masterclass on Friday at the Amman International Film Festival. “How far could you take this freedom without hurting those around you?”

The arts were a way of testing and overcoming those limitations. While Abbass said she did well in school, she naturally gravitated towards extra-curricular activities, specifically those that nurtured creativity.

She eventually attended a photography school in Haifa, convincing its dean to enrol her even though the registration window was closed. “I told him it was a matter of life and death,” she said. “I really left him no choice.”

By then, Abbass had already tried her hand at acting, taking part in school recitals. Playing the role of a mother who lost her child instilled in her an appreciation for the craft and its ability to connect with a live audience.

However, she didn’t consider acting a viable career option, and not because of the uncertainties surrounding the profession. The only acting schools and theatre companies in the area were Israeli. “I didn’t want to learn these skills through a school that wouldn’t enable me to act in my language and represent my people,” Abbass said. “Maybe I was waiting for the right moment.”

That opportunity would present itself when she moved to East Jerusalem to work in the West Bank as an official photographer at Birzeit University. It was at the university that she came to meet Francois Abu Salem, who was among the Palestinian creatives who founded Al Hakawati, which today is known as the Palestinian National Theatre.

“I accidentally got to know [Abu Salem],” she said. “He asked me to come to the theatre and take pictures. After a few days, we were having coffee, and I told him I was always fond of acting and had a certain passion for it. He then told me that they had a play in the works and that they were due to present it in France. One of the actresses wasn’t able to make it, and he asked if I was able to fill the role.”

It was a life-changing opportunity, and within a week, she travelled to France, marking her first stride towards becoming an actress.

In the late 1980s, Abbass settled in France. Her move and its ramifications within her family are explored in the documentary Bye Bye Tiberias, which is directed by Abbass’s daughter Lina Soualem, and is screening at the Amman film festival.

However, despite the familial tensions that Abbass’s move to Europe incurred, there is no denying that it exposed Abbass to more opportunities as an actress. She began acting in TV productions, but her major breakout role would not come until almost a decade later, with the 2002 film Satin Rouge by Tunisian filmmaker Raja Amari.

“Satin Rouge was the film that kicked off my career,” she said. “It was the film that made me start my cinematic experience. It helped me greatly after that to attain other roles.”

Another major step in her career would come only a few years later, with a production directed by Steven Spielberg. Abbass said she thought her agent was joking when she got the call asking her to take part in the film Munich. However, given it revolved around the Black September organisation’s attack on Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Abbass was unsure about the project.

“I was hesitant,” she said. “But then when I found out the script was written by Tony Kushner, who was among those who fought for peace and for things to change [in Palestine], I thought the least I could do was read the script.”

However, it was unconventional for actors to receive the full script, she said, and she was initially offered only a few pages to read. Abbass declined the role. However, a few days later, she received another call, saying the production team had agreed to send her the full script and also asked that she serve as a consultant.

“There were many things I liked about it and things I didn't like,” she said. When she arrived on set, she was surprised at Spielberg’s reception.

“They immediately said he wanted to see me,” Abbass said. “I saw someone coming towards me [with his arms open]. And he said, ‘I’m very happy to have you on my set.’ I thought the world had turned on its head.”

Spielberg asked what Abbass thought about the script, and the actress was characteristically honest. “I told him there were parts that didn’t feel authentic. He introduced me to Tony and we began talking.”

Abbass said her meeting with Spielberg and the circumstances surrounding the encounter were unlike any other. However, she said, several other directors with whom she had worked had also left a lasting impression.

“For example, [Yousry] Nasrallah lives in my heart. I mean, my experience with him [on Bab el Shams] was a very special experience.”

Another international highlight of Abbass’s career was being cast in Succession, taking on the role of Marcia Roy, wife of media mogul Logan Roy (Brian Cox). Many might have noticed that Abbass’s role was diminished in the final two seasons of the TV show, and the actress implied that this came as a result of a request by her.

“In the first two seasons, I couldn’t take on any other projects,” she said. “I couldn’t take on films, because I had an exclusive contract with them, and there was no time. I wanted to be free from this restriction, so I asked to change the contract.”

Abbass also hinted at other projects in the pipeline. These include returning to work with Ramy Youssef on a new project, after the hit comedy series Ramy.

“There is a project for a French film and then I will start the new series, which Ramy is writing with Will Ferrell,” she said.

The new series is Netflix show Golf, which revolves around a fictional golf player (Ferrell) and will air in 10 episodes. Abbass did not divulge the role she will be playing in Golf.