LEILA FADEL, HOST:
When the film "Atropia" starts, it seems like a standard war movie set in Iraq, circa 2007. But pretty soon, you learn it's a comedy, and it's not Iraq at all. It takes place closer to Burbank than Baghdad. You see, for training purposes, the U.S. military has built these massive simulations of the countries where it's at war, so new troops can run war games and get familiar with this fake version of the terrain and the people. In the film, "Atropia" is a stand-in for Iraq.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "ATROPIA")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) Here, you will be tested in a vast, immersive training area spanning 600,000 acres of the California desert. What sets us apart is our proximity to Hollywood, which means we've got the best in the business.
FADEL: And that's where we meet Fayruz, played by Alia Shawkat.
ALIA SHAWKAT: She is an actress, and she takes her job very seriously. She is Iraqi, but she's American. She works there to play one of the Iraqi civilians during war to help make it as realistic as possible. But she takes her job just a little more seriously than everybody else.
FADEL: (Laughter) She has quite the air of desperation about her.
A SHAWKAT: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
A SHAWKAT: Like, any good actress really does.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "ATROPIA")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As Jerry) You have a great part today. Mustard gas chemist is a great part.
A SHAWKAT: (As Fayruz) Yeah, only if the soldiers find me. I mean, think about it, Jerry. I could be stuck twiddling my thumbs in my little bomb-making room while my entire future passes me by.
FADEL: And before we really get started, I ask about her name because my instinct as a Lebanese American is to say it the Arabic way.
How do you say your name? Because I have this...
A SHAWKAT: Alia, actually
FADEL: Alia. Alia Shawkat?
A SHAWKAT: Alia Shawkat, yeah.
FADEL: 'Cause I kept wanting to say Alia Shawkat, but that's not right.
A SHAWKAT: I mean, that's right.
FADEL: (Laughter).
A SHAWKAT: That's the Arabic way to say it. You can say it that way. I mean, that's, like, the battle of my life, is like, I'm like, well, if you want to say it the real way, it's Alia Shawkat.
FADEL: Like her character, Alia Shawkat is an Iraqi American actress. Though she hasn't struggled to find work since her days playing Maeby on "Arrested Development." Her character, Fayruz, is really into this job in Atropia. But she's also struggling to make peace with it. Here's another clip.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "ATROPIA")
A SHAWKAT: (As Fayruz) Do you know what I've given up to be here? My passions, my career. Hell, half of my family won't even speak to me because of what I do here.
FADEL: I'm just wondering why she does what she does when it's part of an invasion of the country where her family ultimately hailed from.
A SHAWKAT: I think that to her, this is what she knows how to do. But she was only given so many opportunities. So obviously, this isn't her first-class choice, to be recreating a war to people who nobody's watching. But I think with the circumstances she was given, she kind of was like, I'm right casting for this, you know? And even personally myself at a certain time, too, it was like I was only getting cast for anything that was ethnically, you know, appropriate.
FADEL: Yeah.
A SHAWKAT: God forbid I'm just, like, a regular girl. They have to be like, no, no, no, we have to explain why she looks like that. And in a lot of these war movies, you know, it's a hard thing to make a critique war film because you can never really make a true anti-war film if you show the war because inevitably, it looks very cool and brave, you know? But in our case, it looks really silly.
FADEL: (Laughter).
A SHAWKAT: You're actually showing the other side of it and going, this is ridiculous. So the idea is that this film is actually a true anti-war comedy of showing how flimsy our war system is.
FADEL: Your dad's in the movie with you, right?
A SHAWKAT: Yeah. So my father plays the mayor. And he was, you know, born and raised in Iraq and didn't come over till he was in his 20s, into the States, yeah.
FADEL: So he - you're in the car with him. You're struggling with a lot of things, your interesting romance in the film, your flailing acting career, whether you should stay or go at this facility. And he looks over at you and he tells you, look...
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "ATROPIA")
TONY SHAWKAT: (As Abu Saif) We're helping a group of teenagers to invade our homeland in a gentler way.
FADEL: That line, how did that land for you? It felt like it was such a complicated justification for why Iraqi Americans were involved here.
A SHAWKAT: Totally. I mean, you know, now, obviously, looking back (laughter), it's heartbreaking, you know, on such a big scale, because I even remember when the U.S. invaded Iraq for the first time and my father having this hope, slightly naive, maybe, but hope that they would take this dictator and they would change things. And I think that war, also the lies about the WMDs, it kind of - it set the stage, in a way, for the world we live in, where there's just no trust in our governments and institutions. That was kind of the first, like, he lied about that? And everyone is like, anyways, carry on.
(LAUGHTER)
FADEL: Right. I mean, it also takes quite a few swipes at your own industry - right? - of acting...
A SHAWKAT: Oh, yeah.
FADEL: And how seriously, I mean, there's...
A SHAWKAT: My favorite (laughter).
FADEL: Yeah. I mean, let's talk about that because there's this scene where you're trying to get your break, right? And a famous actor comes onto the facility.
A SHAWKAT: Yeah. I mean, I think every actor, whether they want to admit it or not, has had that.
FADEL: (Laughter).
A SHAWKAT: That moment of, like, this person is going to come here and he's going to see me. I mean, a lot of the work I did, not to sound too actory - but anyways, on this character was about the urge to be seen. Fayruz's desire just to be seen - just somebody see me - is so real in all of us, you know, whether you're an actor or not, just to be deemed valuable, you know? Like, you're worthy. But yeah, I mean, in our industry, we're just - you see amazing, talented actors. And everyone's just putting it on, you know, slapping on the lipstick and the dresses and being like, look at me.
FADEL: (Laughter).
A SHAWKAT: I mean, it's not a cool industry. Like, people are just desperate to be seen and hope they get another job and hope they're the prettiest and the cutest girl in all the land, you know? It's just like, it's a deep belly of insecurity.
FADEL: I mean, it is a satire. But in many ways, it's making such a serious statement - right? - about war, the military industrial complex. It also gets into, like, these anti-Muslim, anti-Arab tropes that were just being thrown around post-9/11 and continue to be. I mean, what do you think the larger message of this film is beyond just being a funny, enjoyable watch?
A SHAWKAT: You know, I think this quote, this Moliere quote that says, the duty of comedy is to correct men by amusing them. I think it's important to remember, like, how messed up our country is, I guess (laughter), you know? Like, and to be poking fun at the king, because we're also in a very scary time right now where even doing that is having risks. And to me, I think the power of an artist is to mock the king, always. There has to be a playfulness to being like, look how ridiculous this is. Let's not forget because the darkness under here is real. You know, horror and comedy just kind of go hand in hand. So, yeah, I mean, I hope people laugh and also leave there going, there's a lot of truth and pain in comedy.
FADEL: That's Alia Shawkat. She stars in the movie "Atropia." Thank you so much.
A SHAWKAT: Thank you, Leila.
(SOUNDBITE OF DJ ASEEL SONG, "RAH AMOOT MN EL QAHAR (REMIX)") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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