Anna Gurji, one of the actresses who starred in a low-budget film about the prophet Mohammed, is the latest to claim those on the set were hoodwinked into believing it was about life in an ancient desert kingdom, without religious overtones.
“There was no mention EVER by anyone of MUHAMMAD and no mention of religion during the entire time I was on the set,” she wrote in a letter explaining her understanding of the film.
“I am hundred percent certain nobody in the cast and nobody in the U.S. artistic side of the crew knew what was really planned for this ‘Desert Warrior,’” she added.
Film Director Alan Roberts also claims he was duped into thinking he was working on a film called “Desert Warrior.”
The low budget picture has incited riots in a number of largely Muslim nations because of its blasphemous portrayal of their prophet as a womanizing pedophile. Libyan Ambassador Chris Stevens was one of three Americans killed in rioting at the American Consulate in Benghazi.
Gurji said the cast was told the movie was about tribal infighting sparked by the arrival of a comet on Earth. But much of the dialog in the finished product was added during editing to turn the film into “Innocence of Muslims.”
She said “shock” is her response when asked about the picture in its current form. “Two hours after I found out everything that had happened I gave ‘Inside Edition’ an interview, the duration of which I could not stop crying,” she said.
“I feel shattered … It’s painful to see how our faces were used to create something so atrocious without us knowing anything about it at all.”
Gurji said she has no plans to go into hiding. “I will not go into hiding (since I have nothing to hide), because if we don’t speak the truth, there is no world worth living for.”
