Introduction to the characters of 'The Reluctant Fundamentalist'

RIZ AHMED - CHANGEZ

Changez is a young Pakistani man, graduated from Princeton, and chasing corporate success on Wall Street. He finds himself embroiled in a conflict between his American Dream, a hostage crisis, and the enduring call of his family's homeland.

"I kind of stalked this project. When I first read the book, I loved it! I thought it absolutely must be made into a film. I even called the publisher, asking if I could have the film rights. Of course, the proposal was promptly declined."

LIEV SCHREIBER - BOBBY LINCOLN

Bobby is an American journalist trying to solve the kidnapping of an American citizen.

"To be honest, what initially attracted me to the project was Mira. She was someone I admired and was eager to work with, on anything. Then I read Mohsin’s book and I felt it was a really timely piece, and provocative in a way I was drawn to, even incendiary a little bit, in a way I think is healthy."

KATE HUDSON - ERICA

Erica is a freelance photographer who falls for Changez.

"I was actually not going to be able to do the movie because I got pregnant. I just had the baby eight weeks before I started shooting. I was breastfeeding all the time, every three hours or so, and Mira would rub my feet while they were changing the set-ups. It was definitively an emotional experience for me."

MEESHA SHAFI - BINA

Bina is Changez’s sister.

"As someone who was born and raised in Lahore, I can definitively say that everyday life is very different from the footage shown in the media. And that’s what this film tries to foreground."

KIEFER SUTHERLAND - JIM CROSS

Jim is Changez’s boss at Underwood Samson.

"Jim is someone with a job to do. He is very pragmatic and straightforward about that. It is a story about how through our own fear - and I guess our own ignorance on some level - we have taken some of our greatest allies and turned them into enemies."

Credits – Penguin Books & ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’, the book.