Nicola Coughlan is set to portray an Irish mother who traveled to war-torn Syria to rescue her kidnapped six-year-old daughter in the new film "Love and War."
The new film is inspired by "Stolen: Escape From Syria" by Louise Monaghan with Yvonne Kinsella. The memoir recounts Dublin native Monaghan's crusade to rescue her kidnapped daughter May from her abusive ex-husband during the tumultuous days of the Arab Spring.
According to Deadline, the new film, based on real events, will chart Irish woman Sarah O’Meara’s struggle in September 2011 to rescue her six-year-old daughter who was abducted by her father and smuggled to his native Syria, a country embroiled in the turmoil of civil war.
As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that O’Meara’s greatest challenge will not be surviving the war but finding a way to outwit her ex-husband, former abuser, and greatest love.
“I am so honoured to be playing this role and to tell the story of Louise Monaghan’s incredible bravery," Coughlan said, according to Deadline.
Monaghan said: “I am absolutely delighted to hear that the fantastically talented 'Derry Girls' and 'Bridgerton' star Nicola Coughlan is excited to take on my role and bring my story of perseverance and heartbreak to the big screen."
Monaghan recently spoke with Evoke.ie about her harrowing encounter that has inspired the new film.
On September 7, 2011, the Irish mother said goodbye to her six-year-old daughter May when her ex-husband Mostafa Assad took her out on a custodial visit.
Assad, who had visiting rights three days a week, told his ex-wife that he planned to take May to a beach near her home in Cyprus but had devised a plan to abduct his daughter and take her to his native Syria.
Monaghan told Evoke that her daughter was due to start school the day after she was abducted.
"He talked and spoke normally and I remember I kissed her goodbye and stupidly, I worried they wouldn't have money for an ice cream so I remember giving him €20 to get something for May if she needed anything. She ran back and gave me a kiss, and they drove off in the car," Monaghan told Evoke.
She said the visit appeared like any other visit since her separation from her husband but added that she had a feeling that something was seriously wrong.
"I was at work and I got this horrible sense of foreboding,' she said. 'I just really felt off. I knew something was seriously wrong so I tried to ring him," she said.
She told Evoke that she went to the beach in the hope of seeing her daughter and ex-husband but said the beach was "completely empty" and "just knew" that her daughter had been taken.
Assad rang Monaghan later in the day to tell her what he had done, detailing that he had managed to take May out of Cyprus and into northern Syria despite May being on a "stop list".
She said she spoke to her "distressed" daughter on the phone and reassured her that she would come and find her.
Monaghan played on her husband's "ego and greed" to convince him that she wanted to move to Syria to be with May, telling her ex-husband that she was planning to sell her car and house in Cyprus to facilitate the plan.
However, Monaghan was held captive in a room in Syria for three weeks after briefly reuniting with her daughter after making a dangerous journey across the Syrian border.
She said was subjected to heavy beatings by her ex-husband and regularly heard shelling overnight as the Syrian civil war waged on.
Monaghan and her daughter were presented with an opportunity to escape when Assad agreed to take them to a local visa office.
"Unbelievably, he left May and I in the back of the car for one minute.
"I said, 'May, run!' I grabbed her hand, opened the door, it was a really busy street and a taxi pulled up and we opened the taxi door and jumped into the back and threw ourselves on the floor," she told Evoke.
"As we were driving away from the immigration office, I looked out the back window, and I could see Mostafa in a blind panic, seeing that we weren't in the car, and looking around frantically for us."
The mother and daughter attempted to reach the Irish Consulate in Damascus, but Assad reached local police first, putting out an arrest warrant and promising that Monaghan would be "publicly beheaded" if she was caught.
She was subsequently forced to leave Syria illegally and on foot with the help of people smugglers.
Monaghan told Evoke that she 'feels sorry' for Coughlan taking on the role as she knows it's going to be "extremely arduous and difficult" to play.
"I do have a little bit of pity for her because it’ll be harrowing." Monaghan said.
"I have full confidence in her that she’ll do it brilliantly but I do feel sorry for her because it's a very difficult and emotionally draining role to take on.
"I'm in awe, more so, of her now that she's read the script and she's willing and excited about playing me."
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