Radha Mitchell stars as a young mother who winds up in a mysterious town populared by bizarre creatures in the thriller, Silent Hill, based on the popular video game. (Photo © TriStar)

Best known for roles in dramas and independent films, Mitchell found the experience of working opposite tennis balls and other items standing in for the film's CGI monsters a bit surreal. Mitchell said, "Christophe [Gans, the director] I think expected us to just respond on cue. We were always like, 'Give us a noise. Give us something.' So in the end, we developed a habit where he would say, 'Okay, monster. Okay, it's coming. Now!' So there was some kind of dialogue about what we were doing, but at first he didn't quite understand. He thought that we should just be able to imagine it like that. But actually, acting is so interactive and you really need things to go off that we had the first AD making funny noises for the monsters through microphones and stuff like that. All of that would seem completely ridiculous to anybody who was watching what we were doing. But it definitely helped with the actors." Read More...

Radha Mitchell on Silent Hill, Video Game Fans, and Movie Monsters

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Trailer for Silent Hill

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Shohreh Aghdashloo and Jennifer Coolidge Interviews from the American Dreamz Premiere
Writer/director Paul Weitz' timely comedy American Dreamz features an out of touch American President, an egotistical reality show host who holds court over a gaggle of wannabe stars, and a terrorist just waiting to be activated. Touching on a bunch of hot button issues, Weitz' latest film pokes fun at pop culture while not taking itself too seriously. (Pictured: Shohreh Aghdashloo © Richard Chavez)

Shohreh Aghdashloo (House of Sand and Fog) plays a relative of one of the contestants on American Dreamz and Jennifer Coolidge co-stars as Mandy Moore's character's pushy mother. Aghdashloo and Coolidge showed up in Hollywood for the film's premiere and shared their experiences of working with writer/director Paul Weitz (About a Boy) with me before taking in the special screening. Check out what the two had to say about the film, Weitz and American Idol:

Shohreh Aghdashloo and Jennifer Coolidge Discuss American Dreamz

Rather Watch a Video? Play the Interview Clip