eteran actors Sissy Spacek and Tom Wilkinson both give powerful performances as a husband and wife who must deal with their grief when their only son is killed. Spacek is no stranger to Oscar gold, winning the best actress statue for her performance in Coal Miner's Daughter (1980). Tom Wilkinson's background is in theatre, but is probably best known to North American moviegoers for his role in The Full Monty. Tribute spoke to the two stars about their Oscar nominated roles.

Sissy Spacek

Your performance in In The Bedroom is heartfelt and moving. There's no
way that you didn't put yourself into this character's shoes to get that kind
of raw emotion.
S.S. You're right, being a mother, all I could think of was my family. It was often difficult going there, but it certainly did help me to get into this character's skin.

What was your initial reaction when you read this script?
S.S. Oftentimes you read scripts and you get to one and you think "OK is this good or is this just better than all the other ones that I have been reading?" Well with this one, there was no question. When I first started reading it I thought this is a nice love story, and then all of a sudden BOOM... it's like a carnival ride. You get thrown in completely different directions. It's very jarring. Then you are going along and all of a sudden it happens again.

There are so many twists and turns, especially emotionally.
S.S. It's beautifully written. The characters are all well drawn and the story, well, there's not one line in it that is exposition. The story unfolds and it surprised me and it is very rare that a film surprises me where I don't know what is going to happen and then I'm stunned at what does happen.

There's a scene in the film where Ruth and her husband, played by Tom Wilkinson, can't take the grief anymore and they both finally lose it. Take me through playing that scene and what was it like working with this man?
S.S. Oh my god, he is such a powerhouse. His background is the theatre so if he wanted to he could just break me in two! I mean the power that he has, he's just got this reservoir of power and depth and that was wonderful. Rarely in film acting do you get to do a scene for very long. This was a minute plus scene and we were able to start and go through the whole house and have our knock down, drag out. It was quite wonderful and liberating although we were wiped out after about five takes. It was like now we have to do close-ups? Oh, maybe we should have done them first.

You both really complemented each other.
S.S. Tom is a wonderful man and very funny. He's like a grown-up man and for the first time in history I think I've played a real grown-up. I can't tell you how amazing that was for me.

Tom Wilkinson

Your performance in this film is quite moving and thought provoking. Why did you want to play this tormented father?
T.W. It's a very simple and rather sort of a primitive feeling when you read a script. Basically what you do is read it and then in your mind and sometimes even physically you go "oh yes indeed!" I can do this and that's the simple test. You read it and you think I know how to do this. I think I can play him really well. That's it.

Your character, Dr. Matt Fowler, goes through quite a transformation in the film. Did you draw on anything to play him? I would think this was emotionally draining to do?
T.W. No, it really wasn't. Your sustenance in this situation is the script and if the script is telling the story well that is your inspiration and you do not need to go somewhere else. It's a combination of your own sense of the world and what is in front of you on the script.

What appealed to you about him?
T.W. It's an interesting and long journey isn't it for a man who is a doctor? He was happy and then suddenly their lives are struck by catastrophe. A kind unimaginable to most people. I was interested in how people respond to that.

You have some pretty amazing scenes with Sissy Spacek who plays your wife. What was it like to work with her?
T.W. One word. Easy. All good actors are easy to work with. It's the ones that aren't very good who tend to be very difficult. We fitted hand in glove from day one and it was a great privilege to work with Sissy. She's a legend.

How did you develop your relationship with her?
T.W. We met a few days before we started shooting and did some rehearsing and hung around some of the sets. Todd, the director, wanted us to familiarize ourselves with the setting of where we were filming. Where the film is set is exactly where we filmed. So it's like a documentary in that sense. So we got to know each other three or four days before we started filming and that was just fine.

There's a very poignant scene in the film when your character and Sissy finally burst from grief, so to speak. What was the momentum for that scene and how much did the director allow you both to do what you wanted?
T.W. It was all scripted. Todd, also being an actor, is very easy to work with. The scene itself, we did rehearse it. What made it difficult is that it takes place in four different spaces in the house so of course you couldn't do it in one go. You had to do a little bit and then wait for a bit and then do another bit of it in a different location. That all takes time. I think we spent a couple of days doing it.

A movie like this really makes you think. What's your take on what he does to avenge his son's death? What would you do in that situation?
T.W. I don't know. I'm really not sure how I would take it. It's a very severe examination of who you are, if something like that were to happen. You don't really know who you are until something like that happens to you.

- Bonnie Laufer-Krebs