In this film, Marie Gillain was physically transformed. "There was a lot of make-up work. I had to be more oriental. My eyes were darkened. The costumes, too, helped me become that character. They changed my posture and my body language," said Gillain, who was asked also to have her vulva totally shaved.
Marie Gillain said the massage scene in the hammam was improvised. "During this scene, I was inevitably disturbed, it would be very pretentious to say that there is always a distance. The young actress who massaged me was paralyzed, she was afraid to accept her body. I think it was a big ordeal for her. For me it was a real pleasure, especially since this scene was finally improvised. I had the feeling of having found the key to the director's fantasy, who let me do it. I found this scene very erotic," Gillain said.
Marie Gillain revealed that initially Ferzan Özpetek wanted the actresses in the film to be in the hammam, but that was not possible. "They had not had the agreement of their husband because of Ramadan, they could not get naked. So they brought in Russian prostitutes... It made me feel completely at ease. I understood at that moment that what makes us modest is the gaze of the man, not that of the woman. In the midst of these extras, I felt a kind of warmth, spontaneity, obviously," Gillain said.