EXCLUSIVE: Quantico and Miral actress Yasmine Al Massri is to star in and produce feature drama Juliet, which is due to shoot in New York City later this year.

Al Massri will play the eponymous Juliet, an astrophysicist who struggles to acclimate back to society after the passing of her husband. The film will follow her during a series of encounters on the one-year anniversary of her husband’s death.

The fully-financed indie pic is the second from writer-director Bandar Albuliwi (Peace After Marriage) who is also in development on Iraq war movie A Brotherhood, whose producers include Hany Abu-Assad (Omar) and All Square outfit Mill House Motion Pictures. Producer-financiers on Juliet include Albuliwi’s New York outfit Falafel Entertainment and Assal Ghawami’s (Peace After Marriage) production company Expat Films.

Al Massri told us of Juliet, “It’s a beautifully written script. Once you read it, you immediately know you are connected to every character. I became an actor because of scripts like this. Although bringing Juliet to life scares me because it will take me out of my comfort zone and challenge me in every way, I can’t wait to be her.”

Albuliwi added, “Juliet is an astrophysicist who specializes in the multiverse theory. The film ultimately gives our audience hope that even though we may have screwed up in this universe, perhaps we didn’t in another.”