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The cast and crew of the anti-Islam movie that sparked violence in Egypt and Libya say they were "grossly misled" about the nature of the film and are horrified by its consequences, reports CNN. Cast members say they were recruited to star in a movie called Desert Warriors, described in casting ads as a "historical Arabian Desert adventure film." Crew members, including one with a copy of the original script, say there were no references to Mohammed or Islam in the script that was filmed, but the lines were crudely dubbed in post-production.
"It wasn't based on anything to do with religion, it was just on how things were run in Egypt. There wasn't anything about Mohammed or Muslims or anything," a woman with a small role in the film tells Gawker. "Now we have people dead because of a movie I was in. It makes me sick." The search for producer Sam Bacile—who may not even exist—led the AP to Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, a Coptic Christian and convicted fraudster who admits to helping manage the film's production. Nakoula said he knew Bacile but denied posing as him. But the cell phone number the AP had been given for Bacile traced to Nakoula's address, and as he showed his driver's license to reporters to confirm his identity, he attempted to cover up his middle name with his thumb.
