Tahar Rahim felt 'honoured' to work with Jodie Foster on The Mauritanian

Tahar Rahim was "honoured" to work with Jodie Foster on 'The Mauritanian'.

The 39-year-old actor stars in the legal drama as Guantanamo Bay prisoner Mohamedou Ould Salahi and loved starring alongside the Oscar-winning actress, although he admitted he was shy around her.

Tahar said: "It was great and such an honour to work with her. She is the coolest, the nicest, and what a great actress.

"But of course, I was a bit intimidated by her. I was too shy to tell her how much I love her films. I didn't want to bother her by telling her I am a fan."

The film, based on Salahi's memoir Guantanamo Diary, sees the prisoner – wrongly held without charge or trial - team up with defence lawyer Nancy Hollander (Foster) and her associate Teri Duncan (Shailene Woodley) and Tahar found it "amazing" to actually meet the character he was playing on screen.

In an interview on 'The Graham Norton Show', he recalled: "We had been talking for months but it was amazing to actually meet him - it was like meeting a good friend. He is incredible.

"When he and Nancy Hollander watched Jodie and I play them in the scene in which they meet, they held hands and cried – it was very moving."

Tahar previously opened up about how he felt it was vital to be tortured for real in some of the scenes.

The 'Serpent' star said: "My job is to make it authentic.

"If I don't taste it, I'm going to fake it — and if I fake it, I can't believe in it. And neither can the audience. I had bruises for weeks after the shoot.

"My ankles and arms were bruised. More the ankles, because they were shackled all day long. I played it for real. The water torture, too."

'The Graham Norton Show' airs on BBC One on Friday night (26.03.21) at 10.45pm. It is also available on BBC iPlayer.