Tribute's Bonnie Laufer talks to versatile character actor Will Patton about getting spooked making The Mothman Prophecies.

B.L. When you read the script for The Mothman Prophecies did you know that it was going to translate into such a scary film?
W.P. I think I saw the potential for something very unusual and very exciting. I was a little afraid of the script and I wasn't particularly sure if I wanted to do the character that I did because I thought that he could be really clichéd and over the top and seem like a crazy person or something. Then I met Mark Pellington (the director) and as soon as I met him I knew that we could make something really good and that I could make something good with the character.

B.L. It turned out to be pretty scary.
W.P. I don't know if I knew how scary the movie was going to be... I think that it is genuinely a very scary movie. While we were making it I kept saying to myself, this is genuinely scary and when I watch it now I am still scared and I know what's going to happen.

B.L. Do you believe in supernatural forces and have you ever had any experiences with supernatural forces?
W.P. I believe that we don't know as much as we'd like to know. I'd prefer to think that we don't even know what's going on with us inside much less with extraterrestrial things. John Keele, the guy who wrote the book and did the reporting on these things, called his experiences ultra terrestrial which I thought was a good word because it implies we on the earth have heightened sensitivities.

B.L. Given the opportunity to know if there are forces on the other side would you rather know or not know?
W.P. I'd rather know. Wouldn't you?

B.L. You have played so many different roles. Good guys, bad guys, crazy guys. Is there any type of role that you haven't tackled yet that you'd like to play?
W.P. Well, ever since I was young I always thought that everything that I was doing was kind of funny. I've never really taken myself that seriously. I always thought that when I first started acting I thought comedy was what I liked. So maybe I'd like to do something funny, but not like those big junk food comedies, something genuinely funny.