Interview:
Lauren Noll,
co-star/director,
"Same Same But Different"
Directed by Lauren Noll, the cross-cultural comedy Same Same But Different focuses on an Iranian immigrant’s efforts to remain in the United States after her visa application is rejected for the third time. A desperate Rana (NCIS: Los Angeles’ Medalion Rahimi) agrees to a green card marriage with her boyfriend Adam (Escape Room’s Logan Miller). But their best-laid plans start to unravel during their wedding weekend. Same Same But Different also stars screenwriter Dalia Rooni as Nadia and Layla Mohammadi (The Persian Version, Scrubs) as Set, Rana’s closest Iranian-American friends whose contrasting opinions on her sham marriage caused problems during the weekend festivities. The cast also includes director Lauren Noll as Adam’s sister Malena, Joey Lauren Adams as Adam’s mother Rebecca, Kevin Nealon as Rana’s spiritual guru Siddhartha, Ghosts' Richie Moriaty as Set’s boyfriend Pat, and Michael Baszler as Nadia’s boyfriend Ryan. Same Same But Different screens at 9:30 p.m. March 12, 11:30 a.m. March 14, and 6:15 p.m. March 18 at the Alamo South Lamar during the SXSW Film & TV Festival. Same Same But Different represents the feature directorial debut of Lauren Noll. Noll previously collaborated with Dalia Rooni on the short films Clean Slate and Gen V. She also co-wrote and starred in the 2024 Waco-shot short The Heart of Texas. Posted: March 14, 2026. Web site: https://schedule.sxsw.com/2026/films/2249871 |
|