Barbarella travels PARADISE HIGHWAY with Hala Finley

Hello, my friends. Barbara here. PARADISE HIGHWAY is currently available on demand and digital. The story of a truck driver forced to transport illicit goods stars Frank Grillo and Juliette Binoche as siblings. Hats off to the casting director for choosing this pair. From physical similarities to certain mannerisms, the relationship proves to be evident even before the word "sis" is uttered in conversation. The film also stars Morgan Freeman, Cameron Monaghan and Hala Finley. I had the opportunity to speak with the latter who, despite her young age, has years of experience. Check it out!

Is it true that you started your acting career at the age of four?

"Yes, it's true."

Now, how does it go? Were your first words "Mom, I want to be a star" or what?

"Well, actually, my brother was an actor, originally, when he was younger. I guess I was pretty much the annoying little sister, and I was always memorizing his lines and stuff. And after that I guess I started liking it for a while and then I started playing."

Well, that's cool. What was the first role you played in which you felt really proud of your performance?

"I would say that I think the first role I've played that I'm really proud of my performance would definitely be this one, actually."

And what made you proud?

“Well, there was a lot of preparation, so I guess I felt like I had my teeth into this role. There was a lot of work to do on it, and I'm proud of me for being able to complete all the necessary preparations."

What kind of preparations did you have to make?

"Well, I knew a bit about trafficking before I read the script, so I had to do a lot of research on it. I watched documentaries about trafficking, that kind of stuff, Plus, since Leila is from Mississippi and everyone in Mississippi has such a heavy accent, once I heard it, I was like, "Oh. It doesn't make sense if she doesn't have an accent," so I needed to learn a southern accent. I worked on it for a while. Then I spent about three weeks to immerse myself in Leila's world. I really wanted to make sure that I was portraying a real person who had been through what she had been through. So yeah, I watched a lot of documentaries about trafficking and survivor stories and I even dug a lot into Leila's past because I wanted to see how someone from her upbringing would handle this situation."

I think you did a good job. You also work with the great Juliette Binoche in this area. How awesome was this experience? And what did you learn from working with her?

"She's such an amazing actress and person. I've loved working with her. Just her transition, her transformation, into Sally is just amazing. She's just so amazing. And even on set, sometimes, she acted like a mother figure to me. She was so kind and she always made sure I was okay and protected me. She is so inspiring."

Did you spend a lot of time with Frank Grillo on set, and how is he really behind the scenes?

"He is super nice. I was able to spend time with him, but I only saw him for a few days. But he is such a nice person. I I had so much fun working with him."

Obviously human trafficking is very heavy content. Have you heard some of those survivor stories...