Valley actor regrets playing role in controversial anti-Islam film
After spending days in hiding, one of the actors in the controversialfilm “Innocence of Muslims” is speaking out for the first time.
The Coachella Valley man says it started when he answered a casting call on Craigslist.
“Then out of the blue almost a year has gone by. I think, ‘Oh well, you know. I guess they must have not liked it.’ It never went anywhere. Then it just explodes all over the world. When I saw the first clip, it’s like, ‘Oh no, please no.'”
To keep his identity private, he’s using the name “Bill.” Bill spent three days on the set of what was “Desert Warriors,” playing the role of Solomon. Reading through the script of his first movie he thought, “Nobody’s ever going to watch this. It’s like a ‘Saturday Night Live’ parody. Even if they watch it, they’re not going to take it serious,” said Bill.
However, millions did take it seriously after “Innocence of Muslims,” mocking the prophet Muhammad, went viral. The anti-Islam film touched off protests and violence across the Muslim world. Four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya, were killed.
Bill claims the filmmaker deceived him and other cast members.
“So convoluted. You never could’ve seen through the layers,” said Bill.
He’s breaking his silence after Steve Klein, a consultant for the film and self-proclaimed critic of radical Islam spoke out to defend the film last week.
“You certainly had no idea what they were doing. So do I trust them to speak for me? I’m like you got us into this mess.”
Bill hopes he, and the rest of the world, can soon forget the film.
“If it had been a normal film, not heard of again, I’d be OK. I totally regret it and everything that’s come along because of it,” he said.
