“With 'Eagle of the Ninth,' every shot was extremely planned and organi...” — Tahar Rahim Quote

“With 'Eagle of the Ninth,' every shot was extremely planned and organized. The director was like, 'Do this!' And I say, 'How was it?' and he says, 'Good.' It was very odd. I would never know where he was headed, or even if he was shooting me at a close-up or from a distance.”

“I'm an actor, full stop. Not an Arab actor. Not an actor of Algerian origin. Just an actor.”

“When you agree to work with a filmmaker, it's important that you accept their world. It's an adventure. I like that. I throw myself into the director's arms, into their universe.”

“I don't like, and I've never been very good at, close-up shots. As soon as you have the camera right there in front of you, it feels like you're in a different reality from the person you are acting with; you lose any real connection with them.”

“When you're shooting with long lenses, even if you're shooting a close-up, you feel the air, the distance between the camera and the subject.”

“Theater's wonderful because it's visceral, and it's happening in front of you, but you never get that close. So the close-up is a great privilege of film.”