DUBAI: Saudi actress Dina Shihabi is set to star in an upcoming noir, “Catching Dust,” alongside a stellar cast featuring US actress Erin Moriarty and Australian stars Jai Courtney and Ryan Corr.
The production is expected to start this month in the Canary Islands. It is helmed by award-winning British writer and director Stuart Gatt, who will produce the feature alongside filmmakers Mark David, Jon Katz and Edward R. Pressman.
Set in Texas’ Big Bend, the drama tells the story of two couples who unwillingly escape to hide in a lone trailer on an abandoned commune, according to Deadline.
Geena, played by Moriarty, is being controlled by her criminal husband, Clyde, played by Courtney, who forces her to hide from the law and his former cohorts looking to settle old scores.
When Geena decides to leave, a trailer arrives carrying a couple from New York, Amaya (Shihabi) and Andy (Corr), who are seeking respite from the city. Geena convinces Clyde to let the couple stay, a decision that will put them all in danger.
Shihabi, famous for her role in Netflix’s thriller mystery “Archive 81,” took to Instagram to share the news with her supporters saying that she is “thrilled” to be part of the production.
The actress, who spent part of her childhood in Dubai, was born in Riyadh. Her father is Saudi-Norwegian journalist Ali Shihabi, and her mother Nadia is half-Palestinian and half German-Haitian.
She moved to the US in 2007 and was the first Middle Eastern-born woman to be accepted to The Juilliard School and the New York University Graduate Acting Program. She began appearing in short films in 2010, but her big break came in 2017 with the role of Hanin in “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan.”
She has previously spoken to Arab News to share her advice for up-and-coming actors.
“Look around to the people that are around you right now and start making things. And focus, hard work, determination, passion (are important). Those are real things,” she said. “I’m still working really hard to make the things I want happen and I don’t think it’s ever going to end. If you choose this life, you are choosing a life where you have to really work hard.”