CINEMANIA 2025: The Little Sister | Interview with Nadia Melliti
Actress Nadia Melliti impresses as much with her on-screen magnetism as with the sincerity and generosity she brings when talking about her first experience in film.
In a world of cinema often too self-conscious or trapped in its own distance, Nadia Melliti stands out for her freshness, spontaneity, and genuine warmth. Discovered in The Little Sister (2025), Hafsia Herzi’s third feature film, she made a strong impression at Cannes, where she walked away with the Best Actress Award. A well-deserved recognition that celebrates her brilliantly subtle and magnetic performance in what was, remarkably, her very first acting experience—after being discovered by chance during an open street casting in Paris.
What she seems to value most, beyond her newfound fame, is the discovery of a new world: that of acting, of cinema—something that now sits alongside her passion for sports. A football enthusiast who never does anything halfway, she’s found in cinema a new space for expression. And while her talent is undeniable, what’s most striking is her lucidity—her way of articulating what it truly means to be an actress, navigating between the excitement of acting and the hard work it takes to grow, understand, and bring a character to life.
During the 31st edition of the CINEMANIA Film Festival, I had the chance to speak with the actress, who was in Montreal for the screening of The Little Sister. In the film, she plays Fatima, a 17-year-old whose quietness and restraint can’t fully conceal the inner turmoil of a young woman tentatively embracing her homosexuality. Muslim and deeply close to her family, she dreams, in an ideal world, of reconciling all facets of her identity and life. Appearing in nearly every scene, Melliti’s performance is supported by Hafsia Herzi’s intimate and sensitive direction. The film tells a story of awakening, revelation, and self-affirmation. With delicate precision, it builds emotion gradually until it envelops the viewer—a tender, sensual film with a truly universal resonance.
A Character with a “Fiery Personality”
At the origin of this cinematic adventure was Melliti’s discovery of Fatima Daas’s book, on which Herzi’s film is based. “I loved that novel,” the actress shares. In it, she encountered the character of young Fatima, who tries to reconcile her Muslim upbringing with a slowly emerging homosexuality: “She’s a character trying to make her way where society tells her she can’t. But she wants to, she’s a fighter, she struggles, she wants both.” Melliti immediately felt deep admiration for her: “I saw her spirit and her fiery personality. She moves forward, straight ahead, she knows what she wants. Of course she questions herself—like all of us do, because we’re all full of contradictions. But she keeps trying to find her own path.” Then came the challenge: “How do I play a character whose life experience I haven’t lived myself?”
For Melliti, the process begins with understanding the character deeply—and then drawing from her first great passion: football. “I draw from what I know: the mindset of an athlete—the drive, the focus, the fearlessness, except maybe fear of yourself sometimes. I immediately imagined a character who shares that athlete’s mentality, someone who doesn’t stop at negative comments. […] This character lives in a world that keeps telling her ‘No.’ But she’s searching for her ‘Yes’—and the path that will take her there.”
Letting Go to Become Someone Else
Then, before Hafsia Herzi’s camera, something happened: the magic of cinema took hold, and Nadia Melliti transformed. “I became this character who doesn’t accept herself, who’s struggling, who talks to very few people.” On set, she became Fatima, surrendering completely—a process she describes with passion: “Playing Fatima meant I had to let go, because I couldn’t draw on my own life experience. Mine is very different from hers, so we don’t have the same approach. […] When you let go, you become the character. And by becoming that character, you also forget that you’re yourself.”
For the young actress, the experience was exhilarating—a glimpse of a new inner world: “When you become your character, you feel proud of your work. You tell yourself you managed to step out of your comfort zone and become someone different. And I think that’s the beauty of this job—to become someone else.”
Improvising, letting go, transforming—she’s clearly found her place: “The feeling it gives me is one of relief. Because I tell myself I’ve crossed a difficult threshold. It’s hard to let go, to forget everything that makes you you—the way you think, the way you interact—in order to become someone else. But it’s fascinating. And I really enjoyed the transformation.”
Even during rehearsals, she realized she was falling in love with the craft: “At the very beginning, during rehearsals with the casting director, that’s what I loved most—improvisation. I immediately thought, ‘Wow, I’m not me anymore!’ I could say I was an astronaut who went to the moon with a dog—and people could believe it! I find that beautiful.”
Under Hafsia Herzi’s Gentle and Encouraging Direction
To reach that level of surrender, the atmosphere on set matters immensely. Melliti is clear about this: “Having a positive environment—one that supports your success—helps enormously. […] When you’re guided by a director and surrounded by a great crew, a team that believes in you, supports you, respects you, that kindness makes all the difference.”
She’s full of praise for Hafsia Herzi, who knew how to make her feel at ease and help her grow: “Hafsia gives you so much freedom. She’s an incredibly calm and serene director. I never saw her lose her temper. On the contrary—she’s very encouraging.” As an actress herself before becoming a director, Herzi clearly knows how to work with her performers: “She motivates us, pushes us to believe in ourselves and in our abilities. She often told me: ‘You have to feel it in your gut, let it come from deep inside, from your belly, as if you were trying to push it out.’ That really helped me.”
Between the director and her young actress, the connection was immediate: “With Hafsia, we understand each other without saying much. There’s a strong intuition. From the first meeting, I felt I could trust her. […] I sensed she had no ego, that she was very humble.”
“Remember—it’s not you, it’s the character”
If Hafsia Herzi helped Melliti transform into Fatima, she also imparted a crucial lesson: surrender must be balanced with control—especially since film scenes are rarely shot in chronological order.
“When you go from joyful family scenes to something much more intense—when Fatima cries or fights—you have to hold onto that energy without letting it escape. Because if it does, it takes time to recover.”
Melliti reflects with maturity: “You have to keep a bit of distance from your character so you don’t get overwhelmed.” She recalls another precious piece of advice from Herzi: “Don’t forget—it’s not you, it’s the character.”
She understood this fully while shooting the film’s final, deeply emotional scene with her on-screen mother: “It was such an emotional moment that when the director said ‘cut,’ and the camera stopped, I kept crying. It slipped away from me somehow. The character escaped—and it takes a while to come back to yourself.”
With humility and insight, she adds: “I think that’s due to my lack of experience, since I don’t have a long career behind me. But it’s something you can work on. And when that advice comes from a director who’s also an actress and truly understands, it really helps.”
Stop Pretending These People Do Not Exist
In the end, Nadia Melliti is proud to have taken part in a project with such a powerful message—one that portrays, with sensitivity and intelligence, a reality too rarely shown on screen: “It’s a film that’s very much about love, with a complex character grappling with complex themes—psychology, sociology, religion, homosexuality. Topics that are still taboo in France, and elsewhere too.”
She praises Herzi’s work, which included extensive research and immersion within the LGBTQ+ community: “There’s a kind of pain that this community lives with, and it’s not often brought to light.”
Melliti feels deeply aligned with the film’s purpose: “I think it’s important to stop pretending these people don’t exist—because they do. They’re here, like us. They have families, dreams of marriage, hopes for success. They’re people like everyone else, and I don’t understand why they’re not represented more in cinema. This film gives them visibility, a voice, and helps those who don’t know this community—or who hold stereotypes about it—realize that their lives aren’t simple. And at the same time, society doesn’t make it any easier for them.”
Everything has been said. All that’s left is to wish The Little Sister a long and beautiful journey—and Nadia Melliti a bright career ahead, full of inspiration and wonder.
