During the New York red carpet premiere of Escape Plan, I had the opportunity and honor of interviewing Faran Tahir, one of the lead characters, who has some very funny and impressive scenes along with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Tahir plays Javed, a Muslim inmate "disappeared" for life in the top secret Tomb prison.
Faran played the lead terrorist in Iron Man and also had roles in Elysium and 2009's Star Trek but now it's his turn to star on our website. We roll camera on Escape Plan's Faran. "And ACTION!"
TheArnoldFans: In this film, Arnold says to you a raunchy one-liner that we think will go down in Arnold's top 2 one-iners of all time.
FARAN TAHIR: After "I'll Be Back" and "Hasta La Vista"?
TAFs: Exactly! Are you honored to be in such a historical scene?
FARAN: Absolutely! I mean, these guys are the biggest icons in the history of filmmaking of this genre. Like, how can you NOT want to work with them? It's surreal. If you're a movie buff, this is a historical moment.
TAFs: Were there any other variations of Arnold's lewd one-liner that he tried out? Different raunchy insults before this one was chosen?
FARAN: Yeah, there are those. The great thing about Arnold is he is so humble that he comes to it with a completely open mind. He will give input but he's also really good about taking it. He will not only take it, he will seek it because he wants to make it better. And to me, that's amazing.
TAFs: You had some emotional scenes with Schwarzenegger. What was it like for you to work with Arnold?
FARAN: Yeah, there's a great scene in there, I won't spoil it, towards the end which I thought - were, he and I just let go of the tough guy thing. There's a moment. And it has to be real otherwise it doesn't work. Its not about being a tough guy. It's not about the facade, it's not about the mask, It's not a 1-take, i'll do anything kind of a thing...it's an actual moment. And to me, that was great, because he could get there, without trying to push it. And you see the real actor come out. To me, that was great!
TAFs: Last question: Favorite Arnold movie of All Time (Besides this one)?
FARAN: Terminator 1. Has to be.
Meeting Faran on the red carpet was an honor! He was a fantastic character in the film, and he knows that this film will go down in the history books! We also caught up with Faran at the Escape Plan After Party! He was very eager to chat about Arnold, and how special this film was!
