Juliette Binoche plays a war photographer in "A Thousand Times Good Night," opening Friday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Red Eye Media

TORONTO - Juliette Binoche is known for pouring everything into her performances. For her role as a dedicated war photographer in "1,000 Times Good Night," she met with top journalists who have captured global atrocities — not only to understand their work, but their personal lives and motivations.

"It just showed me how meaningful it is and how much it costs. And how they organize themselves and how it can be also very tricky in their personal life," the French actress said in a phone interview. "You have to find the right people around you to help you in this difficult journey, because it's not that easy. You're seeing horror and you're alone."

Opening Friday, the film features Binoche as Rebecca, a photojournalist who returns home from Kabul after an especially close brush with death. Her husband (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) seethes with resentment as he has been busy raising their two daughters while she risks her life in conflict zones.

The rift in their marriage worsens when she takes their daughter (Lauryn Canny) on a trip to Kenya that erupts in violence. Rebecca again makes a decision that puts her as close to the danger as possible — the kind of snap judgement call she makes instinctively and her husband can no longer support.

Norwegian director Erik Poppe ("Troubled Water") based the film on his own experience as a former war photographer. But he chose to switch the genders in the film, making Binoche his proxy and casting Coster-Waldau as the character based on his wife.

Binoche said she was drawn to "1,000 Times Good Night" because she had always been fascinated by war photography. She met with Lynsey Addario, an acclaimed photojournalist known for her work in Afghanistan and Gaza, as well as Zoriah Miller, Marcus Bleasdale and others.

"I was wondering as I was talking to them, 'Where is the need coming from?' As an actress of course I was thinking, 'Oh, it's all in the childhood,' the need of being seen and heard and going to very dangerous places — seen and heard because you were not seen and heard in your childhood," Binoche said.

Rebecca is often accused by family and friends of being addicted to the excitement and danger. But she is also determined to make people sit up and pay attention to the horrors of the world: "I want people to choke on their coffee and see and feel and react," she says.

This need to bear witness to injustice is a true motivation of war photographers, said Binoche.

"Witnessing places in the world... can change, not always, but can change the consciousness of people and also political decisions. So the power it gives to consciousness is also very much what very high-profile war journalists and photographers are doing."

Poppe has said he was determined to film as much as possible in Afghanistan and Kenya. While Binoche shot some scenes at a refugee camp in Kenya, the situation in Afghanistan became so dangerous that only Poppe and a small crew ventured to Kabul in 2012.

Binoche's scenes set in Kabul were actually shot in Morocco later. The actress, a keen traveller, was disappointed that she couldn't go to Afghanistan but decided that the safety concerns were valid.

"Of course, I wanted to go, because you want to know and see. I've been into places... (Recently) I went to Lebanon and Lebanon is in war with Israel. But if you're frightened, you can't do anything. So you have to not be silly and do things unconsciously," she said.

At 50, Binoche has assembled a diverse acting resume. This year alone, she has appeared in the big-budget monster flick "Godzilla," as well as quirky rom-com "Words and Pictures" and Olivier Assayas-directed drama "Clouds of Sils Maria" with Kristen Stewart.

The Oscar winner said she can relate to Rebecca's passion about her career, but she doesn't necessarily feel her own tug-of-war when it comes to her family and her work.

"There's not a hierarchy thinking I'd put my family before my passion. I'm trying to live both of (them). I've been travelling with my family all over the world. Now it's a little more difficult in a way because my children have their friends and their activities and their school," she said.

Nevertheless, she recently brought her teenage daughter to live with her for four months in Vancouver, where she enrolled in a bilingual school and "really took advantage of the experience," said Binoche.

"When I have a tour, when I'm touring for a play or the dance show I did, it's a sort of sacrifice in a way. But at the same time, (my children) understand that I'm drawn to something that is important to me. So they understand the importance of finding your own passion as well."

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News from © The Canadian Press, 2014