'The Patriarch' mirrors Iran society

In an exclusive interview with ifilm, Iranian actor Mahmoud Pakniyyat shares his experience of acting in 'The Patriarch' series.

Mahmoud Pakniyyat began stage acting in 1969 and in 1988 he stepped into the world of movies and television.

The series which brought him nation-wide fame was ‘Once Upon a Time’ (1991-1992).

His popularity grew with his appearance in the series ‘The Patriarch’ (1993-1995) and ‘After the Rain’ (2000), both aired on ifilm.

Below is ifilm exclusive talk with the Iranian thespian conducted in Persian.

ifilm: Mr. Pakniyyat, how were you cast for Jalal’s character in ‘The Patriarch’?

Actor: When I was working at a theater center in Shiraz, director Akbar Khajouee called me up and asked if I could join this project. I read the screenplay sent in to me by this friend of mine and liked it so much. Though the character he’d chosen for me was different and I said I would not sign on for the project if he failed to give Jalal’s role. The director of this series called me back a few days later and asked me to do a make-up test for the character I wanted.

ifilm: This series is considered a vintage TV production, drawing the audiences even now with the fanbase still there.

Actor: The screenplay is quite solid and all characters in the series are credible and can be well related to. All personages are pretty much familiar.  I think this is not the case with our present-time series. 'The Patriarch' was a reflection of our society and that justifies popularity.

ifilm: You have quite a number of memorable historical entries such as ‘Prophet Joseph’ on your resume. How did you make it through?

You are right, I love historical projects as your character before the camera can serve as a role model for younger generations. By watching such works people can see the progress bar of general knowledge in history on their dashboards.

I normally read the screenplay first before accepting the role to work on. Of course, I accepted one or two without due consideration, just because of putting more than enough trust in friends, which I later regretted. But all-in-all, I prefer to pick and choose my roles and never play in those that just fill gaps on a TV playlist.

Interview by: Hanieh Khavari

AG/AG