B.L. Where do you go within yourself to portray this kind of grief?
N.W. Um, look it's true that every actor takes a little bit of himself or herself and it comes through into the character. But having said that, I am an actor and it's not like my life is that. I connected with a lot of women who had gone through the same stuff that Christina was going through and that was really important for me because her kind of grief is unimaginable. The only way to get closer to imagining it or to feeling it is to be in the same proximity as these people.

B.L. When you first read the script, what was it about it that turned you on to it?
N.W. Do you know actually, I signed on to do this movie before I read the script. And that was purely based on Alejandro's first film. Amores perros to me was the perfect film and I just thought, "wow, this man knows how to handle tragedy and emotion and suffering better than anyone I had seen in a non manipulative way - in a truthful authentic way." So I just loved that film and he and Guillermo, the writer, came to meet with me and tell me what 21 Grams meant and I thought "what a great metaphor, how profound that seems and what you create around that." And it wasn't till later that I read the script and found out about Sean [Penn] and Benicio [Del Toro]. So it just got better and better.

B.L. No, you can't get much better acting partners than Sean and Benicio in my books. What was it like to get on the set with these two geniuses?
N.W. (Sighs) I mean amazing. Actually I didn't really get together with Benicio on set till the end of our shooting schedule because Alejandro made the brilliant choice of shooting in chronological order as the story truthfully played out even though we know this is a non-linear structure. So Benicio and I didn't rehearse together until we shot. But we spent a lot of time on the phone and we really saw the story as the same one and that was important. Actually the two of our characters, they've quite parallel lives even though they are vastly different. The fact that they both have come from some kind of suffering before and they were told if they play by the rules then things will go okay and you'll stay on track, and when things go badly they both get angry and vengeful and go down again to hell.

B.L. I was wondering if this was a real huge challenge for you to play this woman?
N.W. It was, but it was so exciting. Why? Because there is so much suffering in Christina's journey and the challenge of going to work with people that you admire and respect as much as I did with Sean, Benicio and Alejandro; it was intimidating and overwhelming. But I mean really, that doesn't stay around too long, it's just really when you're anticipating it. Knowing that everyday I would have to cry basically for two months but somehow I psychologically prepared myself. I knew that this is what the material needed. I knew that if I took the material home with me and didn't sleep very much that would be fine. I only had to take it home again the next day anyway. So, I knew that I would feel very tired and out of sorts afterwards for a couple of weeks, and just knowing that sort of kept me together I think.

B.L. How do you choose your scripts? You must get so many. Are there any that you particularly look for that catch your eye? What do you look for?
N.W. Yeah, but it's hard to explain that because it just sort of jumps out at you and it almost chooses you. It will speak to you or it won't and it's not about carving out this career and "I must do this now because I did that." You know, it's really not that conscious. And sometimes you don't even know why you're doing it until you're doing it and then you're like, "wow, this is why." It's teaching you something about your own life perhaps.

B.L. What are you going to be working on next?
N.W. I am about to go and start rehearsals on something in New York. It's a film called Stay and Marc Forster is directing it, who did Monster's Ball. Ewan McGregor and Ryan Gosling [are in it too]. Great Cast.