[MUSIC PLAYING]
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
- Uh, we, I mean, I think that--
- You may not be the
best fit for our Kamran.
- Is your mother
breaking up with me?
- We want the ring back.
- Oh.
- Give it back.
- Give it back.
- You should try again.
You're running out of time.
- She's a lesbian.
- You don't know yet who
you are or what you want.
- I know I want a
cheeseburger right now.
I know that.
- Don't worry, I have a son,
and he likes older women.
[SNORTING]
- I have arranged
for you to go out
with Dr. Asset's son tomorrow.
- It's Lynne's
protest tomorrow, mom.
I can't.
- Hey hey, ho ho.
Patriarchy has got to go.
Hey hey.
- I'm Alex.
- Here's my card.
- Oh, a card.
It's really '90s.
- I grew up in Orange County,
but my parents are from Iran.
You know, that super peaceful
country in the Middle East,
never in the news.
- I've heard of it.
- He's this free spirited
artist who's funny, and gentle,
and sensitive, and progressive.
I'm from a family of fascists
who are going to Mussolini him
out of my life.
- You're not going to die.
- Oh yes, I will.
- She might.
- So your parents--
- Are divorced.
And my dad met a great guy.
- Did you meet
Steven and realize
you were gay, or were
you feeding unfulfilled
with Maggie, and then you
realized you were gay?
- Wow.
- I'm just trying to
understand how it all happens.
- Alex, congratulation,
I hear you're a doctor.
- He's actually an artist.
- My mom's going to want to
drink a bottle of the best
tequila with you until you
have to put her to bed.
- My mom's going
to want to make you
feel super inadequate
in everything
that you do or will ever do.
- Love is about sacrifice,
understanding, and forgiveness.
- Do you think our
families are too different?
- I want you to be happy.
[SCREAMING]
- Yeah, he makes
art out of balloons.
- I didn't follow that.
- He's really excited
to meet your family.
[END PLAYBACK]
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN:
We have with us
Sara Zandieh and Tara
Grammy, respectively directed
and starred in that
movie, A Simple Wedding.
We just saw the trailer, which
brings us to my first question.
Tell us about this
movie, how it came to be,
and why do we have to need
this movie out there right now?
SARA ZANDIEH: Yeah, well,
thank you for having us,
first of all.
We love Google.
TARA GRAMMY: We love Google.
SARA ZANDIEH: We love Google.
TARA GRAMMY: Use
it all the time.
SARA ZANDIEH: This
is so exciting.
The movie was originally
called Google.
[LAUGHING]
But then--
TARA GRAMMY: A Simple Google.
SARA ZANDIEH: A Simple Google.
I wanted to make a romantic
comedy that reflected my world.
The people in my world,
my friends, my family.
So I knew I wanted to do
something kind of personal,
but within a popular genre,
like the romantic comedy.
So it started from a
very personal story
that then sort of evolved
into something very different
than me.
I started-- my family's
very multicultural.
Like, we're Iranian, but we're
from DC, so over the years,
we've just mixed with a
lot of other cultures.
Like my cousin just
married a Korean woman,
and we have Hispanic,
Jewish, African-American.
We've just become such
a multicultural family.
And so I was attending a lot of
these weddings, and I was like,
you know, it's so
beautiful when you
see love transcend cultural,
religious, tribal boundaries.
And so I started enlisting a
lot of stories from my cousins,
and their experiences in
bicultural relationships.
And then I also cast Tara.
And once I found
Tara, because I was
looking for this
girl for years, like,
I was looking for my lead.
And I finally found Tara,
and she did a reading of it,
and it felt like
the right person.
And she also, I went
saw her play Mahmoud,
and I found in her play that she
was speaking to the same issues
that the movie was speaking to.
So I felt a kind of kinship.
And so we started--
I cast her, and then
I started enlisting
a lot of Tara's
stories, her experience
with Persian parents,
and relationships.
And so the characters sort
of evolved into kind of Tara.
And so I feel like it's kind
of a mish mash of like, us.
[LAUGHING]
The character.
So yeah, I'd say it's
a combination of me,
a lot of Persian women that
I collected their stories,
and Tara.
And so it led us to this
character, Nousha Husseini.
So yeah, it just kind of
started as just really personal,
just wanting to tell my story,
a lot of modern Iranian women.
Women who are navigating
love in the modern age
in cities like Los Angeles, and
New York, and DC, and Toronto.
So yeah, it just came from
representing my experience.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN:
That's amazing.
So what were the
challenges that you
had while directing
this movie, as opposed
to your previous projects?
This was the debut
feature for you.
SARA ZANDIEH: Yeah, I mean,
getting financing for a feature
is-- you know, I had made
a lot of short films.
But that hardly prepares
you for the challenge
of getting support and
funding for a feature,
because you need much more.
And I took the script around
to studios in Hollywood.
And this was, I was
shopping the script around
before diversity
became cool, and it
became like a hot button topic.
And so a lot of the studios
were like, we love it,
it's so funny, but
it's just too niche.
And it's an Iranian
woman, an Iranian family.
It was just like, it felt
too specific to them.
So we ended up making the
movie outside of Hollywood,
independently with
private equity.
And it was really
like a grassroots,
just like a passion project.
And all of my cast--
I managed to pull
off a great cast,
because they all
believed in the story,
and they felt like it was
something that should be told.
And so they all helped out.
Shohreh Aghdashloo, Maz
Jobrani, Rita Wilson, everyone
just sort of came because
they believed in the story.
And so we all just kind
of, we did it together.
And literally, it's
like, it's really
being held up by Scotch tape.
Like it's--
[LAUGHING]
It's like we just--
TARA GRAMMY: Don't
tell them that.
SARA ZANDIEH: No, but I
think that's important,
because it's like you don't need
a lot to tell a great story,
but if we could even
have more, there's
even more stories like
this that should be told.
And just seeing new faces on
the screen is so important.
And there's so much more
where that came from.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN:
I can definitely
see the emotional connection
with the movie for you guys.
So how's the reception been,
both in here and maybe in Iran?
Has people--
SARA ZANDIEH: Amazing, yeah.
It surprised us.
We just opened to a
great opening weekend.
My distributor, Blue
Fox Entertainment,
they released the
movie in theaters
and online the same day.
But despite the fact that it was
released on iTunes and Amazon,
people were still turning
up in the theaters.
And now we've got
an extended run,
we're expanding to new cities.
And I think the reason
people are turning up
in the theaters
is because they're
an underserved
audience, and they want
to see themselves represented.
And so they like to
come out to the theaters
and watch the movie
together, and laugh.
So it's been surprising turnout.
And it's been really
touching, really fulfilling,
and we're really
touched by the response.
Especially by young Iranians,
young female, first generation
immigrants, that
feel like they can
connect to this story with their
own emotional associations.
You know, even like, I've had
so many Mexican Americans,
Ethiopians, who are in
cross-cultural relationships,
and who are like, that's
just like my Ethiopian dad,
or my Jewish mother.
So I think it really
transcends the Iranian culture.
It really does speak
to a larger experience
of being a first generation
young person who's
pulled into two different
cultural directions and value
systems.
And inside Iran, the
movie's been bootlegged,
and everyone in
Iran has seen it.
TARA GRAMMY: I literally get
like, a message every two
hours, saying I saw your
movie, and why aren't there
Persian subtitles?
And I'm like, because you're
watching it illegally.
[LAUGHING]
They don't get it.
They're like, wait, why are
you saying it's not in Iran?
It's online.
I'm like, it's illegal.
SARA ZANDIEH: My cousins are
like, we just did a screening
with all of our friends.
And this was before it
was released in the US.
Somehow--
TARA GRAMMY: We saw it.
SARA ZANDIEH: They hacked--
I don't know, I don't
know how they got it.
But it's been so--
that response--
TARA GRAMMY: Google,
can you stop it, please?
SARA ZANDIEH: Google,
please stop the pirating.
TARA GRAMMY: Google.
SARA ZANDIEH: It's out there.
But in a way it's
great, because it's
not it's going to be
released in Iran anyway.
So it's like, I'm really glad
that young people in Iran
are seeing it, and
identifying with it.
And they're saying that
it's a new perspective,
and they just, they love it.
It's been so heartwarming,
their response.
And they're just like, we
haven't seen a funny movie
like this in so long.
I think it's been really
incredible, the response.
TARA GRAMMY: It really has,
SARA ZANDIEH: Especially from
inside Iran, the young people.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN:
Any funny stories
in the movie, the production?
It was an indie
movie, so I guess--
SARA ZANDIEH: It
was an indie movie.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: A
lot of scrappy work.
TARA GRAMMY: I mean,
honestly, people
ask me that all the time.
Sorry to interrupt.
Honestly, we worked so hard.
It wasn't funny.
[LAUGHING]
SARA ZANDIEH:
Well, we had, there
was a lot of love on the set.
Like, the cast really loved
each other, Rita, Maz.
Rita and Maz Jobrani
are like friends now.
They had such a great rapport.
Shohreh and Rita are
friends, and so they
wanted to do a movie
together, and that's
how I got the two of them.
Because they actually have
been friends for a long time,
and have had the same
agent for many years.
So there was a lot
of love on set.
But it was a very
scrappy production,
because we just didn't
have a lot of resources.
So we had to move really
fast, and everyone
was really focused.
I think we were shooting
like 10 to 12 pages a day,
which is like--
TARA GRAMMY: I was
there from 6 o'clock
in the morning to 11
o'clock at night, every day.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: Wow.
TARA GRAMMY: And I was
in every single scene.
SARA ZANDIEH: Yeah.
TARA GRAMMY: And I was
basically just like a lunatic
running around.
And Shohreh actually [INAUDIBLE]
would say to me, Tara,
sit down.
Go sit down.
And I was like, yes, ma'am.
[LAUGHING]
SARA ZANDIEH: Yeah
it was so, everyone
worked so hard, really.
Especially Tara, I mean,
I threw her in the ocean,
I lit her fire.
[LAUGHING]
She was so game,
and that's also part
of why we got to make the movie,
because I found my person.
Somebody once told
me, they were like,
if you want to make
an independent film,
you have to find your one person
that will be your ride or die.
And that's how you'll
get the movie made.
And that was really Tara.
And as soon as I found her,
we just, we started running,
and just the energy
of us together.
We just kind of we managed
to get a bunch of people
to rally around us
and make it happen.
So I just want to thank Tara--
TARA GRAMMY: I love you.
SARA ZANDIEH: For supporting--
TARA GRAMMY: Thank you.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN:
Sounds amazing.
SARA ZANDIEH: Me and
seeing it through with me.
It's so important.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: So wonderful.
So this has been a
little unorthodox,
because we need to let you go.
SARA ZANDIEH: I'm so sorry.
TARA GRAMMY: Bye, I love you.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: If you
want to leave, we understand.
SARA ZANDIEH: Thank you.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: I hope you
enjoy the rides at Universal.
I know that's what you are
going to be doing there.
SARA ZANDIEH: Thank you.
TARA GRAMMY: To be at Universal
for the Harry Potter ride.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN:
Sweet, have fun.
SARA ZANDIEH: No.
Thank you so much--
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: Thank
you for being here
SARA ZANDIEH: For letting
me come, and also dip out.
TARA GRAMMY: I'm going to
talk about how you directed
the movie as soon as you leave.
SARA ZANDIEH: OK, thank you.
Thanks guys.
TARA GRAMMY: Bye.
[APPLAUSE]
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: All right.
So Tara, in terms
of questioning I
have a little bit of
a chronological order
on the questions that
I'm going to ask you.
So the first one
is the obvious one,
and the thing everyone asks you.
When did you first
realize that acting
is the career that you
have a passion for,
and that's the direction
that you want to pursue?
TARA GRAMMY: So I obviously
was carted around all
over the world as
a kid, like a lot
of Iranian immigrant kids are.
I went back and
forth to Iran a lot,
and I think that's the
through line of what
was kind of steady and constant
in my life was entertainment,
was movies, was--
everything else was kind
of all over the place.
But I loved movies,
and I loved Googoosh,
who is a really
famous Iranian singer.
And I imitated her, and
I knew all of Grease
from start to finish.
And it's just who I was
always, and it was the one
constant thing in my life.
And then I got to
university, I got to the time
where I had to go to school.
And my mom was like,
you want to be actor?
OK, you have to go to a school.
She doesn't talk like that.
Mom, I'm sorry that I
imitate you like that.
She doesn't talk like that.
But for comedic effect,
that's what it was like.
And then I studied it at
the University of Toronto,
and then I'm here now.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN:
Cool, that's amazing.
How did studying it as
major, theatrical setting
at the University of Toronto
affected your perspective
for the job, versus other
people who kind of get
into the business, but
they have other degrees,
they're engineers,
doctors, and they just
get into the business.
TARA GRAMMY: It really
grounded my work.
I got to do such cool things.
I got to play all kinds
of characters in theatre,
I got to learn how to create
theatre, how to tell stories,
how to be an engaging performer.
And I mean, I don't
think it made me better
than anyone at all, because
actually those engineers,
and lawyers, actually have
something to fall back on.
I didn't.
So it was just a
grounding experience.
It also showed me the
importance of hustle.
Because I really had to hustle.
Because as I was
getting a degree,
not only was I doing
all the theatre things,
at the University of Toronto,
you also have to get an actual
degree too.
So I had to study English
too, and social sciences too,
and all these things
at the same time,
and then have rehearsal until
2 o'clock in the morning.
So it was crazy.
But it taught me that hard work
is everything in this business.
It's not just art.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: So
straight out of school, you
started creating Mahmoud.
TARA GRAMMY: Yes.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: And that
may be an unorthodox start
to a career, because
people maybe like,
taking on a character,
in a smaller role.
Versus you doing everything,
wearing so many hats,
and creating this
role from zero to 100.
So how was that
experience for you?
TARA GRAMMY: Mahmoud was created
during the Green Movement
in Iran, and it's a one
woman show where I play
three different characters.
And it's all about the
immigrant experience.
But it takes place during
the Green Movement.
So it was a lot about my
experience as an immigrant,
dealing with what's actually
going on in Iran, which
was really difficult for me.
So it came from the
need to tell that story,
and then turned into
this kind of funny,
but kind of not
at all funny show
about what it is
to be an immigrant.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: So skipping
forward, a few years after,
I think seven years
ago, you moved to LA.
TARA GRAMMY: Yes.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: What motivated
you to move to Los Angeles?
TARA GRAMMY: Well, I
brought my Mahmoud here,
and it did really well.
And then I signed with
managers and agents,
and it just kind of snowballed
into me being an LA actor.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: Cool.
How has your immigration
process been?
It's not really easy for
Iranians to come to the US.
[LAUGHING]
TARA GRAMMY: Well, I'm
Canadian, so that helped.
I was able to get
an O-1 visa which is
an extraordinary person's visa.
Not sure why they gave it to me.
Thank you, America.
And then I recently got married,
and I got my green card.
So that's my immigration,
through marriage.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: OK,
congrats on the marriage.
TARA GRAMMY: But
it's real marriage.
It's not just-- it
was a real marriage.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: Yes.
Note to USCIS.
It was real.
TARA GRAMMY: It's real.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN:
Her thing was real.
TARA GRAMMY: You approved it.
[LAUGHING]
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: No backsies.
So you recently got
married, as you said.
Congratulations.
TARA GRAMMY: Thank you.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: Was that
anything like the movie?
TARA GRAMMY: No, because I
married a Persian person.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: Oh, OK.
TARA GRAMMY: I learned
from the movie,
and I married a
fellow Persian person.
And it was super easy,
except that we are not
very traditional at all.
So we have to do this table
called a Sofreh, Sofreh Aghd,
which has all these
symbolic things,
and it's supposed to
be this grand thing.
And I was like, I want
everything to be made of wood.
And my mother-in-law
was like, excuse me?
So those, it was kind of
things like that, you know?
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: Yeah.
So I guess the movie was a
learning experience for you
as well?
So you--
TARA GRAMMY: Yes.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN:
Didn't go that route.
TARA GRAMMY: I
didn't go that route.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: When was
a movie shot, actually?
It was two years ago, right?
TARA GRAMMY: It was
shot three years ago.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN:
Three years ago.
TARA GRAMMY: Yeah.
I don't know if I'm
supposed to tell you that.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: OK, you did.
We can cut it out.
TARA GRAMMY: No,
it's OK, keep it.
It's the truth.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: OK.
So living in LA for
the past seven years,
you know, Hollywood talks
a lot about diversity
and inclusiveness.
But reality is often
very far from ideology.
TARA GRAMMY: Yes.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: How
has your experience been
living in Los Angeles
and Hollywood,
and looking you way
you look, basically?
TARA GRAMMY: Well, I go out
for a lot of Persian parts,
but I don't look
Persian the way they
want a Persian person to look.
So I often lose
them to people who
are a little darker in
complexion than I am.
And I did this thing called the
CBS Diversity Showcase many,
many years ago.
It's not like this anymore.
It's actually an
amazing program now.
But at the time,
I kept being told
that I'm Latina,
every time there
was a sketch that was Persian.
I was like, I--
and they were like,
no, you're Latina.
I'm like, OK, got it.
And yeah, that's
kind of the struggle.
I can never just play like,
someone nor-- you know,
I can't play like, Sally,
you know what I mean?
I have to play Sally who is
bringing shame on her family
because she's Iranian,
you know what I mean?
So that's kind of been
the struggle. no matter--
and because I
speak English well,
and I speak Persian pretty
well, it's confusing to people.
They don't know where to put me.
So if I didn't speak
Persian, they'd be like,
OK, she can do
everything, you know?
But because I do, they're
like, oh, she's Persian
but we can't really
sell her as Persian.
Like, can you get a tan?
I was actually
told by a manager--
not my current manager--
that I should spray tan
really dark all the time.
No joke.
Dye your hair dark and spray
tan, so you look more Persian.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: Well, it seems
to be working in the politics
anyway, consider having a tan.
TARA GRAMMY: Yeah, I
should consider it.
Thank you.
Thank you for your
acting advice.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: All right.
TARA GRAMMY: Google's great.
All the information
available to you.
[LAUGHING]
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: Yes.
Asking questions from us
is basically Googling.
TARA GRAMMY: This is great.
This is really cool.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN:
So I guess finding
some parts had been a
little bit difficult,
and that's what kind of
inspired you to do the skits,
and the one-off
shows that you did.
TARA GRAMMY: Exactly, yeah.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: Can you
tell us a little bit more
about that, and how
these two very funny--
and if you haven't seen it,
I recommend you go watch it
on YouTube, they are wonderful.
TARA GRAMMY: Thank you.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: And
how did they come about?
And how did you find the
actors in it, and the ideas?
TARA GRAMMY: I have a friend,
his name's Shayan Ebrahim,
he's an amazing filmmaker.
And we just started
talking, and I really
wanted to make a funny sketch.
Because I was bored.
Because I wasn't booking
anything, because I'm
not Persian enough.
Thank you.
So I started writing with him,
and we created Persian Makeover
with Manijeh, as like a
Marie Kondo spoof, and then
that kind of exploded.
And it's all just my friends.
The first one was
shot at my house,
and they're all just my friends
that came over one afternoon,
and we just shot it.
It wasn't anything
like, spectacular.
And then it did really well.
So then we're like, what are we
going to do for the second one?
And then we managed to get this
mansion through my friend Bita
Milanian who had other friends
who were really generous.
And then we got Andy, who's
a superstar Persian singer.
You know Andy.
And we got all these
amazing people.
Maz, who was in A Simple
Wedding came and did it.
Everyone was just like, yeah,
we'll come for an afternoon,
and do this.
I'm like, OK.
So we did it.
It was just through the
support of my friends and--
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: So cool.
TARA GRAMMY: Yeah.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: All right.
TARA GRAMMY: Thanks.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: So, and
you put it up on YouTube.
TARA GRAMMY: And then
I put it on YouTube.
Thank you, Google.
And yeah--
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: What
do you think about--
TARA GRAMMY: It blew up.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: What you
think about technology, YouTube,
and how has that helped
you in your career at all?
TARA GRAMMY: Yeah, obviously,
it's like, incredible.
It's like, you can
just put it up.
And they pay you,
hopefully, one day.
[LAUGHING]
TARA GRAMMY: Google.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: Yes they will.
[LAUGHING]
TARA GRAMMY: We'll
talk about that later.
That's a private conversation.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: All right.
So then hosting
Persia's Got Talent.
TARA GRAMMY: Yes.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN:
How did that happen?
TARA GRAMMY: That is the
coolest one, I got to say.
I just got a call from
my manager one day,
and he was like, they want you
to host Persia's Got Talent.
I'm like, I'm an actor,
I study Shakespeare,
I'm not going to host anything.
And he's like, OK, but it's
a really good opportunity,
because this is actually the
first time an Iranian company
was able to get the license.
This is a real license of
the Got Talent franchise.
So I was like, OK.
He's like, they're
shooting in Sweden.
You're leaving in
like, three days.
What?
So I went, and it
was something else.
Like, if you watch the show,
whenever the camera pans to me,
I have this face.
And it's genuinely me
crying, because the talents
were so amazing, and their
stories were so inspiring.
And it was just being thrown
into these immigrant stories,
and they're there performing
in front of these famous people
that they never thought
they would meet.
And I get to hold their
moms while they're
watching them sing on stage,
or do acro-- it was incredible.
And it's such a good show,
and the producers are amazing,
and the talents are so good.
And it's really cool.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: Awesome.
TARA GRAMMY: Yeah.
Thank you.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN:
That's wonderful.
So I guess we can--
well, before switching
to the movie,
and talking about your
experience of this movie,
I know you have got a very--
you have got a talent
for making impressions.
TARA GRAMMY: Yes.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: And you're
very funny in doing that.
TARA GRAMMY: Thank you.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: There
is a YouTube video.
TARA GRAMMY: Yeah.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: I'm going
to put you on the spot--
TARA GRAMMY: Oh no.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN:
And ask you if you're
willing to do an impression
for the audience here today.
If not, it's completely
understandable.
TARA GRAMMY: I'm not going
to be as good on the spot
as I am rehearsed.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: OK.
TARA GRAMMY: What can I do?
I mean, who do you--
I can do Celine Dion,
which I do in everything.
You guys are going
to get so bored
of seeing me do Celine Dion.
Should I just do it?
AUDIENCE: Yes.
TARA GRAMMY: She goes (SINGING)
every night in my dreams,
I see you, I feel you.
That is how I know you go on.
[LAUGHING]
TARA GRAMMY: Thank you.
[APPLAUSE]
Google me, you'll see
I do that everywhere.
So.
She's going to sure me one day.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: All right.
TARA GRAMMY: Please
don't, Celine Dion.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: I'm
not sure she won't.
TARA GRAMMY: Yes.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: All right,
so going to the movie.
What was your take
on the movie when
you were, when you
kind of started
putting the project together?
What was the connection.
I know Sara talked a
little bit to that.
But what was your
connection with the movie,
and the characters in the movie?
TARA GRAMMY: Growing up I
loved romantic comedies.
I loved Julia Roberts,
I loved Meg Ryan.
And when I read her script,
I was just at a reading,
she just called me, and was
like, can you do a reading?
And because I wasn't working
at all, I was like, sure.
So I did it, and I loved this
was a Persian romantic comedy.
I just never thought I could
be the lead like Julia Roberts,
of a romantic comedy, you know?
So I didn't leave her alone.
I harassed her.
She doesn't mention that, 'cause
she has like, taste and class.
But I did not leave her alone.
Everyday I was like, so, are
we going to make the movie?
Like, what do you think?
Like, should we make the movie?
And we just started
collaborating.
And again, I believed in her so
much, and her vision so much.
And she's so smart,
and she cares so much
about representation, that I
just threw myself in with her,
and we did it.
We just created it together.
It was a really cool experience.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: Wonderful.
TARA GRAMMY: Did that
answer your question?
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: It did.
TARA GRAMMY: OK, good.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: Yes.
I know as an Iranian, or
as an immigrant in general,
you have to hustle a lot.
TARA GRAMMY: Yeah.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN:
How's that been
for you after you moved to LA,
and even before that in Canada.
TARA GRAMMY: Yeah,
it's just been very
important to make my own work.
Not to depend on
someone giving me a job,
but to create jobs for myself.
To write things, to
help produce things,
just so I can make sure that
I'm being represented correctly.
So that's the biggest
part of the hustle,
it's been creating my own work.
Creating my own
opportunities in general.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: Awesome.
With that, I want
to open up the floor
to questions from the audience.
AUDIENCE: I don't have
the question fully formed,
but I'm really
intrigued by the fact
that you did a movie about
a cross-cultural marriage,
and then decided
to marry a Persian.
[LAUGHING]
I just, there's got to be
more to the story than that.
TARA GRAMMY: You
know, I never dated
a Persian before
I met my husband.
He laughs, because Persian men
have a terrible reputation.
I'm kidding.
Wonderful people.
I'm kidding.
But I briefly dated, but
never seriously dated
a Persian person.
But when I met him, there was
this kind of innate kinship
that I'd never had before.
He grew up here.
He left Iran when he was
four, so he's very American.
But there's something
that felt familiar,
and it felt easy in a way
that it hadn't before.
So despite only
dating non-Persians
my whole dating career.
So and then I married
him, you know?
So it just, he worked.
I don't know if it
was intentional,
but he worked for me.
I don't know if I'd do it
again, like, date a Persian
again, though.
Just kidding, I love them.
[LAUGHING]
That's terrible.
Cut that part out.
[LAUGHING]
Don't watch, Sean.
Just kidding, he's awesome.
He's really great.
AUDIENCE: I didn't come
here to ask questions.
TARA GRAMMY: That's OK.
AUDIENCE: But I'd like
to ask a question.
So the movie that you
made, it's definitely
going to be very endearing
for us as Iranian Canadians,
I'm also from Toronto.
TARA GRAMMY: Yay.
AUDIENCE: In a mixed
marriage, and so on.
TARA GRAMMY: Really?
AUDIENCE: And there are
a lot of cultured people
all around the
world, as you said,
different other backgrounds
that connect to that.
But there is also this politics
that is very heavy on Iranians,
as you know.
Like, your stereotype
often judged, even for me
that I'm an Iranian.
And I totally understand that
you don't pass us as a Persian
if you just--
I have an accent, because I came
to Canada later on for school.
And but if I don't
open my mouth,
you know, I pass as anything.
So but then even me,
I feel this prejudice
as the moment you mention Iran.
And a lot of people, especially
in the US when I came here,
want to imagine that Iran is a
dark place with dark politics.
And then films like
that are great,
because it's soothing for us.
But also my experience has
been that a lot of people
might think that, huh, they
are exaggerating, or they--
how do you see this
films can open up
the minds of those
type of people.
Because it's real, but
also in their mind,
maybe it's because people
don't have direct experience.
A lot of people in the world
don't have direct experience
with Iran and Iranian
culture, so they
have their own fable, or--
TARA GRAMMY: Yeah, their own--
AUDIENCE: Kind of
way of imagining it.
TARA GRAMMY: Absolutely.
AUDIENCE: How do you feel
this movie can open doors
to general public or lay
public acceptance of Iranians
and building, I
don't know, making
the path smoother for the
world loving us, basically.
TARA GRAMMY: Absolutely.
AUDIENCE: You know what I mean?
TARA GRAMMY: Thank
you for asking that.
That's a really
good question, and I
wish I'd spoken to it more.
The parts that I
have gone out for
have been to play terrorists,
terrorist's wives.
Because that is, unfortunately--
for the most part.
There have been other ones too.
But that's the-- and I
absolutely hate that.
Because politics is only
a part of our culture.
We are a fun--loving happy--
I went to more parties in Iran
than I've been anywhere else.
I mean, my mom talks about
parties during the war.
She's like, there
were bombs outside,
we were in a basement dancing.
And that is the
truth of our culture.
We are fun-loving, we are
kind, we are hospitable.
And we don't see that enough.
And that is what this movie is.
There's no darkness in
being Iranian in this.
There is joy in it.
There's the good parts of it.
And that was really
important to me too.
That's also why I really
wanted to make this movie,
because I was
like, that's just--
I want to show the
whole picture, you know?
And also, my character
is an educated--
she's not, the Persian
word is [SPEAKING PERSIAN]..
We're always [SPEAKING PERSIAN].
We're always like,
depressed, and there's
something terrible happening
to us and everything.
But she's not.
She's joyful, and she's
just figuring herself out,
and figuring out her
multinational identity.
And that's my truth too,
so despite the darkness
of politics, which
is always there,
I think it's more beneficial
to us to show the light.
Did that answer your question?
AUDIENCE: Yeah, kind of.
You know, like
someone like Marjane--
sorry, a director
like Marjane Satrapi,
that makes a dark comedy of--
TARA GRAMMY: Yeah.
So good, by the way.
AUDIENCE: Very good.
But to me, it
feels like it makes
more progress in the future,
among the international
communities, as if it--
people like to buy those kind of
stuff more than happy stories.
So do you think that this story
will be as successful to open
doors then, for example--
TARA GRAMMY: I hope so.
AUDIENCE: A story of Persepolis.
TARA GRAMMY: Yeah, I hope
so, I really hope so.
I mean Persepolis
was its own thing.
It was such a unique--
the first time like
that, in animation,
and the graphic novel.
It was so beautifully
told, it so
beautifully told the
story of the revolution
from a female perspective, from
a young woman's perspective,
and immigrant.
It was just, that was its own
thing, and it was brilliant.
But this, hopefully, this is,
I think, like you're saying,
where the world needs
to be going with it,
with their perception
of Iranians.
And I hope-- so far the
reception has been amazing.
But I hope it continues.
I hope this inspires more
movies like this to be made.
Because we need them too.
AUDIENCE: So this
movie reminds me
of a joke of Maz
Jobrani, where he said,
you just don't see
enough people on TV just
making cookies, somebody
named Hasan making cookies.
So I'm wondering is there
anything down the pipeline?
Are you guys going
to make another one?
Something on a similar genre?
TARA GRAMMY: I hope so.
I hope so.
I would love to.
I have so many stories
that I want to tell.
And I hope to have
the opportunity
to keep telling them.
But yeah, we need
to show Persians
just baking cookies more.
For sure, exactly
like you were saying.
Sometimes we just bake
cookies, and we're not
making anything explode.
AUDIENCE: Tasty cookies, too.
TARA GRAMMY: Yeah, sometimes.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: Sometimes.
TARA GRAMMY: Most of the time.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: Well,
not if I am cooking.
TARA GRAMMY: Not
this guy though.
AUDIENCE: Thank you
for coming today.
TARA GRAMMY: Thank you.
AUDIENCE: I've talked
to a lot of people
who have immigrated to the US.
My mom is actually French, so
she came here when she was 20.
And she's still very strongly
identifies as French.
Like, obnoxiously so.
And I was wondering,
since you were brought
to Canada very young, right?
Do you identify being Canadian
first, or Iranian first,
because you were
raised that way, that's
strongly in your culture?
Did you go back to Iran a
lot when you were growing up?
And so you were able to keep
connected and feel like you're
still connected to Iran?
TARA GRAMMY: I consider
myself Iranian first.
I was born in Iran, my
parents are Iranian.
When I go to Iran--
oh my God, guys, I
didn't think I would cry,
but I always cry
when I say this.
No, I'm not going to cry.
[LAUGHING]
There's something when you
land and you breathe in,
and it's this terrible,
toxic air in Tehran.
You're breathing in chemicals.
But there's something
even in that heaviness
that feels like home,
because you're born into it.
And I don't think
you ever lose that.
I grew up going to Iran almost
every summer, going to Tehran.
And I never felt more love
and more just all-encompassing
acceptance, then when I was
there, and with my family,
and with my people.
So I'll always be Iranian first.
But when I went to
Iran, I was also
a lot more progressive
than other people,
and they would call
me a foreigner.
And so I never fully
felt Iranian in Iran.
And then in Canada, no
matter what, I was Iranian.
You know, I was Canadian,
but I was Iranian.
So I never fully
felt Canadian either.
So I think having that
multinational identity,
and identifying in
both ways is who I am.
And then I feel, actually,
very Canadian in America,
because I have a lot of
viewpoints that I'm like, wait,
what?
What do you mean, health
care's not a right?
Like, it just didn't compute.
So yeah, I have a very
multinational identity.
But having said that, I'll
always be Iranian first,
no matter where I am.
Yeah, I even have
pomegranates tattooed
on my arm, guys, that's for my
grandma and my grandpa in Iran.
They died last year.
AUDIENCE: I am not as
attached to Iran anyway,
but now that you are, do you
feel like the more progress
and fame you bring
to the world, can you
go back to visit just normal?
TARA GRAMMY: I haven't--
AUDIENCE: Have you ever had
this fear, because I do?
TARA GRAMMY: I haven't been able
to visit since I wrote Mahmoud.
It just was scary, because it
was during the Green Movement,
and I was doing a lot
of interviews about it.
And everything we do
is innately political,
so there's a very political
streak through it.
And then after that, I kept
doing different things,
and hanging out with
the wrong people.
So I haven't been back.
I haven't been back in 10 years.
I missed both my
grandparents' funerals.
I hadn't seen my
dad in seven years
until I met up
with him in Dubai.
I feel very much exiled.
And now, doing all the other--
the work that I'm
doing, yeah, it's
very-- that was the
hardest thing for me,
is realizing I
probably can't go home.
But I had a professor and
an incredible collaborator
in Canada who said to me,
if you don't use your voice,
you should have stayed in Iran.
So you have to use your voice,
because you have a voice,
and they don't.
So I don't regret it.
But it's also heartbreaking.
Like, when I say
it, I have to like,
really swallow the [INAUDIBLE]
the tears, the pain of it.
AUDIENCE: Since we have
a couple of Toronto
people in the audience--
TARA GRAMMY: Woo!
AUDIENCE: The question is,
Toronto's a very, very diverse.
TARA GRAMMY: Yeah.
AUDIENCE: Coming here,
I've noticed differences.
Is there anything that
you've tried to bring
from Toronto over here.
TARA GRAMMY: I think
one thing that I
love about Toronto is that
everybody gets to kind of have
their own culture, you know?
It's not like a melting
pot like America is.
Everybody kind of
does their own thing,
and they kind of
grow up side by side.
But I want to say
something about LA, which
I think is better than Toronto.
Sorry, very controversial.
Is that LA is more--
somehow, I don't know,
somehow the Iranians
are more connected, because
there's so many of us.
So I actually feel
more connected
to the Iranian Community here
than I ever did in Toronto.
And I've found in recent years
that Canada can actually also
be racist.
And I grew up thinking
that we're not racist.
But then I look back,
and I'm like, oh,
that racism was just like,
under the skin racism.
And here at least it's
like, out in the open
if someone's racist.
So I appreciate that about
LA, you know what I mean?
But I think-- no, he
doesn't know what I mean.
That's OK.
That's OK.
I love Toronto, and I
miss Toronto all the time.
But Toronto wasn't a
place for me to grow.
So I bring my
inclusive mentality
from Toronto, and the fact that
I love all kinds of cultures,
and like all kinds of
different types of diversity.
Like the LGBTQ community,
like all that stuff.
I grew up just thinking that--
like, I remember when
gay marriage was a thing,
and I was like, what do
you mean it's a thing?
They're two people, they want
to get married, who cares?
Because that's the school
system I grew up in.
That's what I learned
at school, you know?
So I appreciate
that about Toronto.
But I also appreciate a
lot of things about LA too.
We can talk about
that later privately.
AUDIENCE: So Raptors
fan or Lakers fan?
TARA GRAMMY: Oh.
I'm a Raptors fan,
but I'm a Lakers fan.
'Cause--
[LAUGHING]
Have you seen the Lakers
lately, do you know what I mean?
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: So Sara
said she set you on fire.
TARA GRAMMY: She did set me on
fire on set, yeah, that's true.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN:
What was that like?
TARA GRAMMY: I had
a stunt double.
So she was really set on fire,
but I was kind of half on fire,
and then they threw
me in the pool.
That's real.
So I was wearing this super
heavy, frilly wedding dress
in the pool.
And I was like,
making eye contact
with the safety
coordinator, like, I
think I'm actually drowning.
The camera's running, I'm like,
I think I'm actually drowning.
I think I'm actually
going to die.
But it was really fun.
And then she also,
there's a surfing scene.
And she's like, OK,
Tara, you're going to go
to the middle of the ocean, OK?
So I went to the
middle of the ocean.
I just, whenever she said
jump, I said how high.
So yeah, it was fun.
It was really fun.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN:
That's amazing.
TARA GRAMMY: Yeah.
ARMAN SHAHBAZIAN: All right.
And I think that's
a wrap for today.
Thank you so much
for coming out today.
TARA GRAMMY: Thank you.
Thanks for coming, guys.
[APPLAUSE]
Thank you.
We have to talk about Toronto.
OK.
