I believe that being an actress or being involved in a movie has to be a life experience, otherwise why go for it? I have to change me, and I have to learn things, and I have to push me and my limits. By acting, I find a freedom inside of a prison in a way.

In April 2006 and again in December 2007 Binoche travelled to Tehran at the invitation of Abbas Kiarostami. Following Rendez-Vous Juliette Binoche was unsure of what role to take next. Binoche read a letter which pointed out that Panahi's detention was "unwarranted and intolerable".

In 2008 Juliette Binoche began a world tour with a modern dance production in-i devised in collaboration with Akram Khan. Throughout her career Binoche has intermittently appeared on stage most notably in a 1998 London production of Luigi Pirandello's Naked and in a 2000 production of Harold Pinter's Betrayal on Broadway for which Juliette Binoche was nominated for a Tony Award. Three years later Binoche gained further acclaim in Anthony Minghella's The English Patient (1996) for which Juliette Binoche was awarded an Academy Award and a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress in addition to the Best Actress Award at the 1997 Berlin Film Festival.