Arsinée Khanjian is big in France. That’s where she leaped out of husband Atom Egoyan’s shadow, and where directors have been scrambling to cast her in lead stage and screen roles. Over there they idolize the Lebanon-born, Montreal-bred Armenian for being able to hold her own, whether she’s chit-chatting in Chanel at a Cannes gala or getting heady at an all-night booze can afterward. Here, in her adopted hometown of Toronto, she’s had a harder go of it, often getting passed over for the non-Egoyan roles she has pursued. But things are about to change: she’s starring in Judith Thompson’s drama about the Iraq war, The Palace of the End, as an Iraqi woman who hated Saddam but isn’t so sure about Bush either. And she has two movies coming out, one a feature from Italy’s noted Taviani brothers, the other a documentary she co-wrote and directed about her family’s tumultuous past.

What attracted you to a play about the war in Iraq?
Ultimately, neither CNN nor a very sophisticated political analysis can give us a sense of being in the middle of such a conflict. And I have been fascinated by Judith’s writing, the realms she enters in her plays, for as long as I’ve been in Toronto—it’s 24 years almost.

Getting theatre work here hasn’t been easy for you.
For a time everyone felt I belonged to Atom. I became identified as an actor with a particular energy, a particular dynamic, so the possibilities of what I could do were not imagined. Then either it was my accent, or I was too ethnic. Somehow, there is an interest in my “otherness” in France. And in Paris it is seen as a positive thing to go from film to theatre, whereas in Toronto they’re treated as separate worlds.

Tell us about the Taviani brothers film you’re in, The Lark Farm.
It’s about the Armenian genocide. As we speak, this is a huge political issue, because the United States and Turkey are fighting over acknowledging the genocide, with the Turkish state continuing to deny it happened. Generally, it is only discussed by the descendants and survivors of the massacres, so having the Taviani brothers, who are outside that circle, decide that this is a story they want to tell is quite important.

Your own documentary, Stone Time Touch, which is about your return to Armenia, is also nearing completion.
I had all these fantasies about Armenia when I was growing up in exile in Lebanon. It was a very cathartic experience for me to go there. On this project I was a writer and co-director, so that marks a shift for me, too. I realized, when working on it, how much I have observed over the years and that I can apply that knowledge in a practical way.

You have described yourself as a rebellious teenager who always asked questions. It sounds as if you haven’t changed.
My parents dealt with it, but some people get terrified by the why, why, why? Others welcome it—that’s why I’ve been able to do the projects I have—but let me say, not generally. When young actors approach me in workshops and ask me about my career, I say, ‘I will tell you, but I’m not sure that in my journey you can find enough elements to duplicate, enough things to inspire you.’ It’s been a very unusual path.

The Palace of the End runs Jan. 14 to Feb. 23 at Canadian Stage’s Berkeley Theatre.