One of the things that struck me was how Kim is immediately sexualized in Afghanistan. What did you want to portray about what it’s like to be in this patriarchal society that’s also a powder keg of testosterone?

"It’s a complicated thing, because obviously out and about… it’s that mix of, like, among the Western men, she was like, I don’t mind this, I don’t mind being big man on campus here. But at the same time, to be experiencing such an oppressive society outside the house culture. In a lot of ways, it’s such an interesting mix of everything that we have to process as women. Do we want that attention? Do we not want it? This culture says, here’s the way to be safe from this kind of male attention: Cover yourself with a giant piece of fabric. Well, that’s obviously not a Western solution. So yeah, it’s interesting. It’s a complicated thing to be a woman anywhere, but especially over there."

It’s interesting how it plays with ideas of invisibility. You wear a burqa in one scene. What was it like putting that on?

"I really did not like wearing that. It’s very frustrating. You can’t see. You can’t tell if you’re going to trip. You don’t have use of your arms because there are no sleeves. In the book [a character] says to Kim, 'You are in the blue prison.' Kim has talked about how, as a journalist, it was kind of freeing because then she could be invisible, but she’s having a very different experience than the person who is being forced to wear it in their real life. It just made me very very grateful to be born in the West and be born in the United States."

The movie references the “American white lady” story. Why did you want to acknowledge that?

"I think any conscious, intelligent person — you’re immediately aware that the story we’re telling about Kim and her experience, obviously, compared to the experience of women who were actually born and live in Afghanistan, is a very American white lady story. So I think that was just Robert’s wise way of saying, 'We know what we’re doing here.' It’s nice to be able to have the character of Shakira [Sheila Vand] say that to her. At the same time, if you are an American white lady, that’s the only story you have to offer."

Were you worried about avoiding the cliché of, white lady goes to foreign country and finds herself?

"Yeah, well, I think the movie is so much more about a person who falls into the lifestyle of being an adrenaline junkie, and so I think it’s almost more of a marketing trap. That’s where that can happen. The movie is really about these people who get hooked on this adrenaline lifestyle, who party all night and do meaningful work, and live in dangerous conditions and put themselves at risk. That becomes their whole life, and they feel like they are nothing if they go a step back from that. So I feel like it’s a more specific thing than just, like, I kissed a foreign person."

The film has a lot of dramatic elements, certainly more than compared to your last movie, Sisters, and a lot of other stuff you’ve done. But it also has your voice. Taking on a role like Kim, do you feel like you have to shed any of your comedic persona?

"This is the second movie I’ve ever been a producer on. On Sisters, I ended up collaborating with Jay Roach as a producer, and this movie I am producing with Lorne Michaels and Broadway Video. Even though the movies are very different, this feels consistent — these are all things that I find interesting and want to present to people. I think Robert has known me for so long and is good at writing for whatever will work for me. Probably almost better than I am at this point. He also knows what I will or won’t do. He was saying, 'I knew there had to be some kind of sex scene in the movie, but it had to be a joke one or she wouldn’t do it.' You just try to play the thing as honestly as you can."