Radhika Apte says she never thought she'd get a chance to play British spy Noor Inayat Khan

Radhika Apte is playing a British spy in her forthcoming Hollywood film on World War II, Liberte: A Call to Spy. The film, helmed by Emmy award-winner Lydia Dean Pilcher, had its world premiere at Edinburgh International Film Festival in June. The film saw Radhika portray Noor Inayat Khan, the real-life British hero renowned for her service in the Special Operations Executive. She has now opened up about the role, describing it as a “pacifist fighting in the war.” [caption id=“attachment_7066151” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Radhika Apte plays Noor Inayat Khan (right) in Liberte: A Call to Spy. Image from Twitter[/caption] In an interview with Mumbai Mirror, Radhika reveals she met Lydia during the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival, where Radhika won the best actress for her bit in the anthology film Madly. Lydia, who served as a jury member at the fest, was casting for Liberte: A Call to Spy at the time. “But there were so many women who fought just as valiantly. Lydia feels very strongly for them and wants to tell their untold stories. I never thought I’d get an opportunity to portray someone involved with a World War. Being on the set of Liberte, wearing those costumes, was an experience,” she tells the publication, recalling her time working on the film. She says that there is a lot of written material on Noor, including the accounts from her children and from the secret services. Lydia helped her to find the balance between the written material and her own interpretation. In 2018, Radhika appeared in three back-to-back Netflix Originals —  Lust Stories ,  Sacred Games  and  Ghoul . Her association with the streaming giant led Twitterati to wonder if there is “too much of Radhika Apte on Netflix.” Weighing in on the question that became viral on social media, the actor said she took it as a compliment. “I was very happy. I think it is a great compliment because it is such a great platform. Who would not like to be a part of the projects from Netflix,” Apte told  Press Trust of India at the time. Radhika has starred in various projects in 2019, including  Pia Sukanya’s black-comedy  _Bombairiya_ ,  British-American action thriller The Wedding Guest, and the Tamil drama Chithiram Pesuthadi 2.