Nothing is more terrifying than to realize your home, your family, your neighborhood, the very walls and ceilings that surround you have turned against you. When there is no safety to be found in what is supposed to be the safest of places, the deepest form of psychological fear abounds. It all begins inside Apartment 9F. This is where a single mother, Dahlia Williams, played by Academy Award winner Jennifer Connelly, is trying to make a brand-new start in life. Attempting to escape from a bitter custody battle with her estranged husband, Dahlia moves with her daughter Ceci to a dilapidated, sprawling housing block on Roosevelt Island at the very edges of New York City.

FEARS: What really scares you?

JENNIFER CONNELLY: Im sort of like your average person, however there is something about the first 10 minutes of a plane ride that makes me downright neurotic.

FEARS: This is your first true horror film since Dario Argentos 1985 horror-thriller "Phenomena?"

JENNIFER CONNELLY: Yes, it is, although, Im reluctant to call it a horror film. Its more s psychological thriller/ghost story. To me, I associate horror more with the gore and slasher type of films. Theres no blood here, and you go through lots of the film and no one dies.

FEARS: In 1986 you starred in Jim Hensonís ìThe Labyrinth,î which is a scary movie, especially for kids. Would you consider yourself a fan of scary movies?

JENNIFER CONNELLY: I have always been very affected by horror stories and am a little afraid of them. I hadnt seen a scary film in ages, but I watched the Japanese version of ìDark Waterî before I signed on. It opened up a whole world for me because I thought of myself as someone who really didnt do scary movies. I was really impressed by it and realized that I had been missing out. Then I had these scary movie film festivals, which basically meant my husband and I watched like two or three a night.

FEARS: Were you aware of these Japanese horror films?

JENNIFER CONNELLY: Yes I had. Iíve seen the original "Dark Water," the original "Ring" and second one. I think thats it.

FEARS: Is it more of a challenge to remake a film based on another culture?

JENNIFER CONNELLY: I dont think that one precludes the other. I think that weve even seen a few Hideo Nakata films that have been redone. And I think that they are interesting films. I like the original "Dark Water." I liked the original "Ring." I think this DARK WATER is a very different type of film than the American "Ring" or the American "Grudge," for example. Thats because of Walters (Salles) interpretation of it. Maybe what you find in the Japanese horror films that we are less accustomed to seeing, at least more recently in western horror films, is that the threat is less often an aberration from outside of the self as it is coming to attack us at home. And more often its something thats subtler that it comes from within.

FEARS: What did you like about this story?

JENNIFER CONNELLY: I think that its really poignant. And thats really whatís special about it. Its really moving and sophisticated story about this woman who has had, as the only place shes found safety, this small family. She feels betrayed and let down again when everything is sort of blown apart. She wants to cling to her daughter but she recognizes shes going to have to let go of her. In contemplating that and considering that separation, she has to recognize how much she needs her daughter and she has to recognize what position that puts her daughter in. She has to separate her love, which is undeniably even from the beginning, from her fear. Ultimately, she comes to embody pure, maternal love. Its an astounding journey.

FEARS: What did you do to help you prepare for this role?

FEARS: What were some of your favorite films?

JENNIFER CONNELLY: "Rosemarys Baby," "Dont Look Now," and "The Shining." But then I approached this film as I would any drama I work on. I thought about, "Who is this woman?" I asked myself tons of questions. What was her upbringing like? In what way was the father abusive? What does that voice say, that mothers voice, thats now internalized and becomes a part of her, what does it say to her? What does it sound like? What did she see in her husband? How did it break up? What did that mean, that breakup? I just tried to make choices. I went through the gamut and tried to make it as specific as possible. What color is her toothbrush? And make those choices so then you can start building it. Then, in my mind, how she moves and what she wears starts to take shape.

FEARS: Youíre somewhat of a native New Yorker, did you know about Roosevelt Islandís history, where you filmed, of housing mental patients? Did it make in any scarier to shoot there?

JENNIFER CONNELLY: Roosevelt Island is a special place; a lot of New Yorkers dont ever get to go there. I had been there once. Oddly enough my son Kai had a school field trip that went there at one point and I chaperoned the field trip. I had a sense of what it was like there. The apartment building they used was interesting. I loved the idea that it was built in the ìbrutalistî style, which John C. Reilly came up with. I learned about it while we were there. At one point I asked somebody about the odd abandoned building and came to learn about its history of madness and illness, what with the asylum and the hospital. Its almost like a character in the film, cut off from the rest New York just on the other side of the river.

JENNIFER CONNELLY: I think New York City is expensive and its hard to find an apartment in Manhattan. I lived in the same apartment for 10 years. I got to a point where I thought, ìI really should move,î but Id spend a week looking at stuff and Id get disgusted. Im not paying five thousand dollars a month for that box above a funeral parlor! I stayed in that place until finally we were a family of four and my husband cursed me every day because he was too tall. We were sleeping in a loft because Kai had the only proper bedroom; it was absurd. I think its quite challenging finding a good place to live in New York City. Of course apartments in movies are so unbelievable.

FEARS: Do you feel that being a mother in real life heightened your maternal instincts in playing the mother of a five year old?

JENNIFER CONNELLY: Ive been a mom for almost eight years now so that would mean everything Ive done since ìWaking The Dead.î I played a mother in ìA Beautiful Mind.î I think that I felt that I was really moved by the story anyway. Of course its impossible for me to separate because I am a mom and its a very big part of who I am all the time, every day, and it informs how I perceive things. Its undeniable. I thought the mother-daughter relationship was really beautifully rendered. Its a really poignant thing to have. I think it will have a particular resonance with people in the audience who are parents.

FEARS: Why?

JENNIFER CONNELLY: Because it is something that a lot of parents go through. People have asked me, "Do you think this character is really crazy? I really dont. I think this character is really broken. This character is amazingly resilient and strong given where she has come from. She is someone who has never been mothered and is set up to mother so that she can look after herself. Parents the world over struggle with the ghosts from their own childhood and how, despite their best intentions, it sometimes affects how they are with their children. Its a film that can be appreciated by parents and non-parents alike. I think parents will find that quite chilling.

FEARS: Does making a film that explores these themes carry some of this heavy baggage for you?

JENNIFER CONNELLY: Its nice to let it be someone elses baggage. You know what really gets under my skin is if Im working on a project that Im not happy with. Thats torture for me and, unfortunately, I must admit, I make it torture for everyone around me because it makes me miserable, but I was really happy to work on this film. It was one of my favorite films to work on because it was just a great working relationship with Walter, the director. I dont feel like Im faking it when Im doing a scene and when were done and if weve got it, then Im done and Im not her any more.

FEARS: In some of those scenes you mustve been waterlogged. Was that difficult to handle?

JENNIFER CONNELLY: I tend to roll with the punches and go with things but it got to a point where I had to put silly puddy in my ears to protect my ear drums. There was about seventy or eighty pounds of water coming out of those jets, which for me are quite heavy, and my arms were just covered with bruises. Im a bit of a tomboy so I was quite proud. Id come home and say to my husband, ìHoney, look what I got today!î (laughs) Iíd show off my war wounds. I tried not to swallow the water but I couldnt hear the girls in the tub, during the bathroom scene, and often times I couldnt see them. I could hardly hold myself up and it was quite difficult. Also the scene in the rain on the cell phone outside the hospital was difficult because it was so cold I could hardly keep from shaking. It was chilly, windy, and there was no cell phone connection so I had to pretend I could hear someone. I was in this wet clothing, in this cold apartment building, and I would have to run from the set to the hot tub to warm up.

FEARS: Being in that much water, for so long, you must have been freezing!

JENNIFER CONNELLY: There was a period towards the end of that bathroom sequence, at the end of the film, that took a little while and it was cold. Its hard to keep a soundstage really warm and even if they tried to keep the water warm in between takes it gets cold very quickly with those soggy pajamas on. They were very nice and they actually had a hot tub on set.

FEARS: Do you hate the sight of water now?

JENNIFER CONNELLY: You know, Im a huge fan of personal hygiene. I think that its really important, so, no I couldnt turn the water off.

FEARS: In addition to all that water there was the black mold. Why would your character rent an apartment that had that mold on the ceiling?

JENNIFER CONNELLY: Im really sensitive to that type of issue in scary films where you go, ìNo way. She wouldnt do that. She wouldnt go up those stairs.î Walter handled that really well actually. He set the stakes. Its always a matter of opinion, but for me the stakes were really clear and I think that she was so desperate to keep her daughter and was so turned around by the sort of hostility of this -- I mean its a vicious thing to be involved in a custody battle -- and I think that shes so turned around by that. I mean, why would she expect that a little leak in the ceiling even if she had seen it? I dont think she did see it. Even if she had, why would she think that there was some massive problem going on in this apartment? Thats what was going to come out of it. Her daughter showed enthusiasm. Her daughter said, ìI really want to live here. This is great mom.î Her daughter was positive and she knows that in two days shes got to show up in front of her husband and if she doesnt have a suitable place for her to live that her daughter might be gone to Jersey City. To me, that is reason enough to say, ìMy daughters happy? Ill take it.î

FEARS: And whats next for you?

JENNIFER CONNELLY: The next project is called Little Children. Its being directed by Todd Fields who did "In The Bedroom and its based on a book by Tom Peroda who also wrote Election.

---

LINK THIS ARTICLE