Scene 2 Seen Podcast: Juliette Binoche Discusses Her New Film 'Paradise Highway'

The Scene 2 Seen podcast is back in a major way!

This week I’ve already published conversations with actor Michael Greyeyes and Naturi Naughton. Today, I chat with legendary actress Juliette Binoche about her newest film that tackles a difficult subject.

Paradise Highway, directed by Anna Gutto, is a riveting thriller set in the trucking industry and underbelly of human trafficking. The film stars Binoche, Morgan Freeman and Frank Grillo.

To save the life of her brother Dennis (Grillo), Sally (Binoche), a truck driver, reluctantly agrees to smuggle illicit cargo: a girl named Leila (Hala Finley). As Sally and Leila begin a danger-fraught journey across state lines, a dogged FBI operative (Freeman) sets out on their trail, determined to do whatever it takes to terminate a human-trafficking operation—and bring Sally and Leila to safety.

Binoche has won an Academy Award, a BAFTA award and multiple European Film Awards. An interesting fact I didn’t know is that Binoche also holds the unique distinction of being the only female to win Best Actress honors in all three main European Film Festivals: the Cannes Palme d’Or for Certified Copy (2010), both the Volpi Cup and Pasinetti Award at Venice for Three Colors: Blue (1993) and Berlin’s Silver Bear for The English Patient (1996).

While I love her performances in Chocolat and Clouds of Sils Maria, in Paradise Highway she really plays against type as the hardened, unsophisticated Sally, and I really enjoyed this performance. I had no doubt Binoche could pull it off as she’s been in this business as long as I’ve been alive.

On this episode, Binoche and I talk about the art of truck driving, being a woman in a dangerous field of work, and the horrors of human trafficking.

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