It’s mere hours before Eye on Juliet debuts at TIFF when we catch up with film’s star Lina El Arabi and the 22-year-old still doesn’t know what she’s going to wear. It’s not her thing, the Paris-based actress explains. “I love fashion, but I need to be comfortable, so I try to make a mix of classy and comfortable.”

This is one of two appearances El Arabi has had at TIFF (her film Noces also screened at the fest). In drama-slash-romance Eye on Juliet, which hits Canadian theatres this week, she plays Ayusha, a young Middle Eastern woman who forms a connection with an American drone operator Gordon (Joe Cole). The catch? They can only communicate through translation equipment on the robots. (Gordon can also see her through a video camera.) We spoke to the French actress about happy endings and working with acclaimed Canadian writer-director Kim Nguyen.