B.L. It's been a long time since I have sat in a theatre where the audience actually cheered on the main character. It was a lot of fun to watch. I know that you have seen the film, what did you think of it?
D.D.I loved it. I was so pleased with the end product because when you are shooting you don't know. You see little elements of it but you don't know. I thought it was just so fantastic, it just lured me in even though I was in it. It was the first time that I was watching myself and I was like “wow, this is a great story.”

B.L. And Jim Caviezel, what a breakthrough role for him. Was he not phenomenal?
D.D. This was the best role that he could have done at this time. His arc is amazing he plays the whole transition so well. He goes through every single emotion so perfectly, you just feel for him. He is great in it. He's terrific.

B.L You play Mercedes, his love interest. What appealed to you about this character?
D.D. The challenge in her, the challenge to play someone who was once so in love, so young, so joyful, and so full of that energy that anything is mine and that I can conquer the world with my love. Then the challenge of when that is all taken away from you and how does that change a woman? How does that make her the kind of mother she had to become? How does she forget about that love? That is what I loved. How does she forget about the past? Everyday I think, in her life, she has spent blocking out the past and what could have been and what should have been and what would have been if only. The your past comes walking back into your life and then its like oh my god, all over again.

B.L. You mentioned Jim, but you get to work along aside not just him but also Guy Pearce, two fabulous, good looking actors. How was that?
D.D. It was the perfect sandwich that I wedged inside.

B.L. How did Jim and Guy differ in terms of their acting styles?
D.D.They are very different. The way Jim works is very methodical he takes his time... the way that Guy works is very spontaneous. He's very of the moment and yet their end result is just as electric and just as profound and their energies are completely different.

B.L. Which obviously fit the characters so well.
D.D. Which perfectly fit the characters and helped me interact better with them as Mercedes and as myself as well.

B.L. Did you have to prepare yourself in any way because the film was set in Napoleonic times, did you do any reading on the era?
D.D. I read about the history of the time, I read about the social rules and regulations of the time I watched some old movies you know, I just prepared myself that way for the outer world. For the inner world I had to do some personal plotting and planning and remembering and recalling.

B.L. Plus, I am sure wearing those beautiful costumes didn't hurt.
D.D. Oh my god, are you kidding? Not only was I shooting this movie with these actors, not only was I in Ireland and in Malta, but I got to wear these stunning things that were sewn for me personally. It was like, where does it end?

B.L. I'm sure you were pinching yourself everyday.
D.D. Yah. And I kind of got used to the corset. It kind of carves in a nice waistline for you.

B.L. I'll have to try that sometime.
D.D. It's like a new diet!

B.L. How did Kevin Reynolds help you as a director?
D.D. Kevin was fantastic with me. He made me feel like a peer and didn't question my abilities. He told me, I cast you, you got it, let's work together. I was working with really great actors who had done so much and Kevin was such a gentleman and made me so confident and relaxed. If I needed direction he gave it to me, if I was doing it well on my own he left me alone. He just intuitively knew what I as an actress needed and he was just great, amazing and I would hope to work with him one day again.

B.L. Obviously, working on The Count of Monte Cristo all around was a great experience for you.
D.D. Fantastic, things couldn't have gone better.

B.L. Your career, knock wood, is going quite well. In such a short time you have done live theatre, movies and some TV work. Is there one medium you prefer over another so far?
D.D. You know what, it's like comparing apples and oranges they are all so different. I love theatre and I will always love theatre. I will be one of those actresses that will go back to the stage every once in a while because I love it. It's so immediate and you get instant gratification. The people are right there. The camera is not the mediator it's just one on one with the audience. In film it is such hard work and there are so many people that go into making a film. It's amazing. I have so much respect for those people from the drivers to the caterers to the gaffers to the lighting crew to everything. Then when you see the finished product up on the screen, there is nothing like it.