Ex-secret agent helps Binoche with role

Juliette Binoche got some insight for her role in the thriller "A Few Days in September" from an acquaintance who, as it turned out, was a secret agent. In the film, directed by Argentinian Santiago Amigorena, Binoche plays a French secret service agent whose mission goes wrong.

Binoche sought background from the acquaintance on the history of the Middle East and relations with the West.

"I was able to understand that you can never really retire as a secret agent, because you will always have secrets," Binoche said at the Venice Film Festival on Friday. "I think an actor needs a certain realism and truth to be real on the screen."

The movie also stars John Turturro and Nick Nolte.