Being able to see the future may sound like a superpower. But what happens when what you see begins to involve your own life, your love, and even your death? In Disney+’s new original film The Last Scene, Hilal Altınbilek stars as Selen, a woman accustomed to being in control who suddenly finds herself facing the unknown. We spoke with Altınbilek about Selen, the point where love and fate intersect, the choices we make, and whether we would truly want to know what the future holds.
Selen can see other people’s futures, but everything changes when she comes face to face with her own. Why do you think people can see others’ lives so clearly from the outside, yet become so blind when it comes to their own?
I think we can be more objective when we look at things from the outside. But when it comes to our own lives, our fears, emotions and expectations become part of the equation. Selen is much more courageous when she intervenes in other people’s futures, but when it comes to her own, all that courage is replaced by fear and anxiety.
Is Selen’s ability a power, or does it gradually become a burden? Which side of it did you feel more strongly while playing her?
I felt the burden more strongly. Seeing the future may seem like an incredible power, but it also comes with an enormous responsibility. Once you have seen something, you can no longer live as though you never saw it.
If someone saw their own death, do you think they would begin to live more courageously or become more fearful?
I think their first reaction would definitely be fear. But what they do with that fear is what changes them. Perhaps, at some point, the feeling of, “If my time is limited, then I should truly live,” begins to take over. We see some of that in Selen’s journey as well.
Selen has spent years influencing other people’s destinies. If you could see the future in real life, would you intervene in people’s lives, or would you think that “some things simply need to happen”?
That’s a very difficult question. If I knew that something truly terrible was going to happen to someone, I don’t think I could stay silent. But trying to change everything brings another kind of danger, because we can never know in advance where certain experiences might ultimately lead us.
The film poses a powerful question: Is it harder to know the future or not to know it? What is Hilal’s answer?
Not knowing leaves room for hope and possibility. Knowing the future with absolute certainty, on the other hand, could take away your sense of freedom to live in the present. So I would say knowing is harder.
Kemal, whom Selen sees in her dream, eventually becomes part of her destiny. What do you think makes someone say, “They were meant to be in my life”?
Sometimes someone enters your life at such a particular moment and in such a particular way that, when you look back, calling it a coincidence doesn’t feel like enough. I think that’s partly where the feeling of “They were meant to be in my life” comes from.
In Selen’s approach to Kemal, which is stronger: love or the instinct to survive? Are there moments when the two become intertwined?
At first, it is definitely the instinct to survive. For Selen, Kemal is someone who may hold the key to understanding her own future and her death. But as she gets to know him, that motivation begins to change and turns into a genuine emotion she cannot control. I think that is one of the most beautiful aspects of the story.
There is a very fine line between falling in love with someone because you have seen them in your future and seeing someone in your future because you are in love with them. Which one does Selen experience?
At first, Selen lets Kemal into her life because she has seen him in her future, but then she genuinely falls in love with him. At some point, Kemal stops being a clue about the future and becomes someone she simply does not want to lose.
Do you believe in fate when it comes to love, or do you think relationships are entirely the result of our choices?
I believe both play a part. I can believe that certain encounters are sometimes fate, but what we do afterwards and how we experience that relationship are, in my opinion, entirely shaped by our choices.
If you knew for certain that a relationship would end in the future, would you still begin it?
Not every beautiful thing has to last forever. Sometimes knowing how something will end doesn’t make what you experience along the way any less valuable.
While playing Selen, which emotion was the most psychologically challenging: fear of death, uncertainty, losing control or falling in love?
I would say losing control. Selen is someone who tries to feel safe by keeping her life under control. Seeing her own death and falling in love both dismantle the safe space she has built for herself at the same time.
In the world created by Sema Ergenekon, reality and intuition, dreams and the future all become intertwined. As an actor, how did you establish the boundary between them?
From Selen’s perspective, I tried to approach the dreams as though they were real. Because for her, what she sees is not imaginary; these are things she knows will happen. So even after she wakes from a dream, it was important to me that the emotion remained present in both her body and her mind.
While creating Selen’s world with Ali Bilgin, was there a particular aspect of the character you discussed and said, “This is how we should play this”?
It was important not to make Selen’s fears too visible. She is someone who has learned to live with them for years. We agreed that she should be more controlled and internalize what she feels — a woman who appears calm from the outside while constantly experiencing turmoil within.
One final The Last Scene question: If you had the chance to see Hilal five years from now for just a few seconds, would you look, or would you rather not spoil the surprise?
I don’t think I would look. Of course I would be curious, but one of the most beautiful things about life is not knowing what is going to happen. I would rather meet the Hilal of five years from now when the time comes.
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