ifilm exclusive interview with Bijan Banafsheh-Khah

In an exclusive interview with ifilm, Bijan Banafsheh-Khah has talked about his acting experiences from early childhood until now that he is a professional actor.

ifilm Persian has conducted an interview with Bijan Banafsheh-Khah  in Persian. Below are the highlights of the talk with the famed actor.

ifilm: Did you enter the world of art based on your personality traits or the rich background that your family had in this realm?

Bijan Banafsheh-Khah: I think both of them were influential. From my early childhood my father took me to the playhouses to see the behind-the-scenes performances of the actors. Sometimes I went to the cinema with the family. It’s interesting to know that most of my classmates at that time had never gone to a playhouse to see a stage play.

Before I enter the professional world of acting, I had played roles in 3 works which had been aired. One of them was when I was 10 years old, another one was when I was 14 years old, and the other one was when I was 16 Years old. Of course I never count these three experiences as something to be included in my resume because the directors and the producers of these works were after a child to play some roles and my father introduced me to them.

If we ignore the above mentioned experiences, I formally started to enter the world of art by taking part in the entrance exam in 1991 to be a student of art in the university. After my entrance to the university I faced financial problems and I was forced to act to earn money.

ifilm: To be an actor was your main goal or did you have another goal in your life?

Bijan Banafsheh-Khah: From my early childhood I was so interested to serve in the Navy but as I entered the university my life changed. Of course I loved to deal with stage play but, as I said before, financial problems pushed me to the world of acting on TV. While I was a student in the university, I worked as an actor to earn money at the same time. During those years, my activities in the field of acting were mostly on TV programs.

ifilm: During those years you were more active on TV rather than in cinema or theater. Was it your choice or did you receive more suggestions from producers working for television?

Bijan Banafsheh-Khah: No, it was not my choice at all. I just received more suggestions from Television.

ifilm: Do you mean that acting in the genre of comedy was not your choice too?

Bijan Banafsheh-Khah: Well, during these years I received more suggestions for comic roles because the first role that I played was a comic role. Besides, I appeared in this genre more than other genres. Unfortunately the producers of TV programs think that those actors who play in comic roles can also play serious roles but they are wrong. Maybe this is not true about all comic actors but I can play comic roles and be active in comedy.

ifilm: If someone asks you to choose a serious role, based on your own choice, or as a scriptwriter if someone asks you to write a role for Bijan Banafsheh-Khah, what role do you choose?

Bijan Banafsheh-Khah: I have no specific role in my mind. To get new experiences, I just write the role which is different from the roles that I have played so far.

MMF/MMF