Director Tom McCarthy and Haaz Sleiman on the set of The Visitor Courtesy of Overture Films

Over three years after the release of The Station Agent, and a slew of attendant wins and nominations for its screenplay, actor-writer-director Thomas McCarthy helms his sophomore film, The Visitor, a four-person character study set against the backdrop of illegal immigration in New York City after 9/11. In the wake of the success of his directorial debut, McCarthy was approached by the State Department to travel with his film on an outreach program to Oman and Lebanon. On his visit to the Middle East, McCarthy realized, despite being well-traveled, how little he actually knew about the region and its cultures. The Visitor was born out of a "call to arms" not only to illuminate aspects of the American government's changed immigration policy since 2001 but also to give a face to the struggle of illegal immigrants looking for a better life in the U.S.

At the center of the film's maelstrom is Walter Vale, played by veteran character actor Richard Jenkins (HBO's Six Feet Under; The Man Who Wasn't There; Snow Falling on Cedars). Walter is a man alone. His wife, a classical pianist, has passed away. He teaches global economics at a small Connecticut college where he has tenure. But the purpose of it all has been eluding him for years now. He simply goes through the motions of existing. "I haven't done any real work in a very long time," he says. "I pretend that I am working." Sent to New York City to present a paper, Walter unlocks the door to his Manhattan pied-à-terre — which he has neglected to use in months — to discover a woman in the bathtub and her protective boyfriend who assaults him. The apartment, it turns out, had been illegally rented out to the couple, Tarek (Lebanese-born actor Haaz Sleiman) and Zainab (Zimbabwean actress Danai Gurira). After initially sending them packing, Walter invites the couple back until they can find alternative accommodation. Tarek, a drummer, loves life and his upbeat enthusiasm draws Walter out from his gray humdrum world. Walter — a failed piano student — learns to drum from Tarek, and discovers in drumming a freer expression where the rules don't seem to be so strictly applied. Then Tarek is arrested at the subway turnstiles for not having valid identification and imprisoned in a Queens detention center.

McCarthy spent over a year and a half researching the film, and began visiting detainees confined to government detention centers on immigration charges. In this exclusive interview with Premiere from the Sundance Film Festival, he discusses finding the right Everyman to play the lead, expounds on the positivism of drumming and wonders just who is responsible for the interior decoration of America's holding prisons.

Park City, Utah
This is a very different film from The Station Agent. It differs most in that it has a strong political message. What accounted for the change in tone?
It's interesting. I think a lot of writer-directors repeat themselves. I have heard it said that all their movies together are one movie. I think that authors may say the same thing in that all their books could be classified as one book. So every movie is a chapter in a director's book. But I felt like the beginning of this movie started out very similar to The Station Agent: very disparate people running into each other in a very difficult and different situation. There was some comedy and some awkward moments and also kind moments between them. But I think that the event that changes it is when Tarek gets stopped in the subway. To me, that's just the changed world that we live in. I wrote The Station Agent at a different time in our country, and I was in a different place, both personally and politically. I think this movie is just more representative of what was on my mind at the time.

The hidden detention centers...