In Bing Liu’s Preparation for the Next Life, Uyghur immigrant Aishe (Sebiye Behtiyar) is keeping herself mostly afloat in New York City and finds her perspective on life changed when she meets and gets to know Skinner (Fred Hechinger), an American soldier also in search of his purpose and a place that feels like home.
Awards Buzz spoke Behtiyar about how she ended up landing her first feature film role in this extremely well-received film:
“I was so shocked that they were looking for an actress who can speak all three languages that I can speak, especially my mother tongue, so at that moment, I thought, yeah, probably, this is it. I need to submit my self tape. I submitted my first self tape and I got to meet the casting director, Jennifer Venditti, and then the director Bing, and then everyone else.”
When asked about her familiarity with the source material or with screenwriter Martyna Majok or Bing, Behtiyar shared:
“Actually, I didn’t read the original book beforehand, because I wanted to come to the role with a mind that was faithful to our script. They had made quite a few changes in this adaptation. As for Bing and Martyna, I only started learning about their work after I knew that I would be part of the film. My way of working with others is usually less about studying their past projects and more about getting to know them as a real person. I know, of course, their work reflects a lot about who they are, but I prefer understanding them through actual conversations.”
Watch the video above to hear Behtiyar’s reflections on working with her costar Hechinger and what might be next for her after this.
Preparation for the Next Life is streaming on MGM+ and available on VOD.
