Yasmine Al Massri has garnered international success after starring in her first film, “Caramel,” back in 2007. The Lebanese film received such accolades as being nominated in the 80th Academy Awards, and winning awards at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival. Al Massri can be currently seen in the new NBC series, “Crossbones,” making this her first American role known to date.
Al Massri plays the character of Selima El Sharad, Blackbeard’s (John Malkovich) right-hand woman, who is smart, cunning, and will do anything, including torturing a man, to protect Blackbeard. We spoke with Al Massri about Selima and her relationship to Blackbeard, and is there a possible love connection there:
“Selima is willing to do anything to protect what is important for her. She’s not intimidated by scaring a man, which is very modern I think, and it makes her exciting. She’s naughty, but is still a princess who has a responsibility to take care of the island. For Blackbeard, she loves and is very protective of him. This is why she wouldn’t hesitate to torture Lowe. Selima never trusted Lowe from the beginning. She knows there is something about this guy that is not true. She is a very instinctive woman, and she has very strong instincts on Lowe not being true. However, she cannot prove, and this drives her crazy. Blackbeard believes and trusts him, and Selima cannot understand why.
Now, I cannot give away a lot, but you will discover more about Blackbeard and Selima’s relationship in coming episodes. What makes this relationship attractive is these doubts. It’s a very modern relationship because they are both strong and equal intellectually. The two do not want to surrender completely unto the other. They are attracted to each other, love each other, and will do anything to protect each other. However, they can kill each other and do not trust each other. It’s all very modern and mysterious. Their relationship is like a dancing tango, I think.”
We continue the podcast, which is featured below, with Yasmine where we discussed her working alongside John Malkovich, Selima’s feelings about Dr. Thomas Lowe (Richard Coyle), and working on “Caramel.”
“Crossbones” airs Fridays at 10/9c on NBC.
To download the full podcast with Yasmine Al Massri, click on the player below:
