In writer/director Meshal Aljaser’s comedy thriller Naga, Adwa Bader plays Sarah, a young Saudi woman in a race to return home to her strict father after deceiving him and attending an underground party in the desert. The film world premiered this year at Toronto and garnered Bader the festival’s Share Her Journey Fellowship and Award. Naga is produced by Telfaz11, one of the leading production companies in Saudi Arabia.
The role was written by Aljaser with Bader in mind, after giving the actress her debut in short Can I Go Out?, made in 2014 but only recently released. Bader had been modelling since 2008 — something she describes as “a tool I was using to express myself, which I have outgrown” — and was curious about acting. “They needed someone to act in a fight scene,” she recalls. Bader made an impact on Aljaser, who “was impressed by my ability to take notes, my adaptability [and] delivery of emotions”.
Bader also writes her own poetry, and published a collection of her work in 2020. Self-taught in both disciplines, she credits practising her poems in front of the mirror as her method, “just so I’d have a good understanding of my face and how I felt with my emotions.”
Born in Florida to Saudi parents, and brought up in Texas, Bader’s family moved back to Riyadh when she was nine years old. The first film she remembers watching as a child is Alfonso Cuaron’s A Little Princess — it made her dream: “I want to do that, perform everywhere, wear those pretty clothes and get to scream on screen to express yourself.”
Bader has been influenced by the films of Tim Burton and is inspired by female thespians including Meryl Streep, Angelina Jolie and Winona Ryder. Top of the list, however, is Susan Sarandon, and Bader’s dream project would see her work with Sarandon alongside director Sofia Coppola and Zendaya, Florence Pugh and Olivia Colman. She is also impressed by writer/actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge (“She’s a genius”). When asked which leading men she would like to work with, Bader’s candid response is that she wants to “focus on female narratives”.
Bader, who splits her time between Los Angeles and Riyadh, reveals she is part of two upcoming projects, both in development. “It’s nothing I can announce yet,” she says, “but I’m really excited about both of them.”
Contact: Brennan O’Donnell, Grandview
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