Kristen Bell talks Pulse

Q: What's the theme of the movie, Pulse? How does technology factor in?

Kristen Bell: All of these things that are supposed to bring us closer together like text messaging, email and such is actually pulling us further apart because we're all becoming more reclusive and you end up sitting on the internet and you're like "Oh, it's 4am! what have I been doing for the last 9 hours when I sat down at 6?" Its just sort of the idea of writing a letter has become ancient and that's only happened in like the last 5 years. I feel like we've come farther in the last 5 years than we have in the last 50.

Q: Have you seen the original Japanese film and can you talk about what you perceive to be the differences between that film and your film?

Kristen Bell: I didn't see Kairo until I had already booked Pulse. But when I saw it, I loved it. I thought it was really smart, I thought it was really eerie. I think that in Americanizing it they chose to condense a lot of the characters because Americans look at that kind of a film and they look at it as more of a series of vignettes because there are so many more characters and I think Americans are used to following the story of one person a little easier so to sort of Americanize it they...it's not that they simplified the storyline by any means, they just made less characters. They condensed it.

Q: It's also more explicit about what's going on.

Kristen Bell: Yes, which I also think is a difference between filmmaking in Japan and filmmaking in America. I think a lot of the horror movies are so great over there but they're also what Americans would consider a little bit more on the independent film side because they take a few more risks and the do things a little differently. I think that when going commercial with a movie obviously a smart business move for Dimension to do is to say "what are Americans used to seeing, what's not going to set them outside their comfort zone too much but still make a great film"

Q: Presumably you have to have seen a lot of horror scripts in the last few years coming your way.

Kristen Bell: Yeah, there's been so many floating around.

Q: So what set this one apart for you when you read it?

Kristen Bell: I thought it was smarter than a lot of the other ones I've read. I thought that the fact that it was actually using something that's very real and very tangible to all of us. Because everyone is always hooked to their cell phone or always grabbing some sort of PDA or something as opposed to just dealing with the murderers out there somewhere, the ghosts in the closet, you know what I mean? I think it was a much different plot line than I was used to hearing and I think it's fun to be different.

Q: How closely does the finished film resemble what you imagined when you read it?

Kristen Bell: Pretty close, I think. I wasn't very surprised although I don't know that I picture too clearly what's going to happen. I sort of leave it up in the air. I don't think I ever have a clear understanding of what's going to...even on any jobs I've done, what's it gonna look like. I try to just hone in on getting my stuff right because I think if I try to take that perspective in and say "oh I wish it was this way" or "it would be nice if it was this way" it's just like too much perspective for me to have. I try to keep it smaller.

Q: I don't know how many times this movie has been moving around, but how do you feel about them continually shifting the release date?

Kristen Bell: Although it looks funky, but when you truly think about it... Bob and Harvey Weinstein are really smart and it comes down to finding the right window. There was a lot of set releases this summer and some movies were pulled up this summer...it's all marketing and it's all their research. So something told them recently "no, no, no this is no longer the best window for it" and if they didn't care about this movie they would have just released it at any time. they could put it out tomorrow. They could have put it out yesterday. You know what I mean? They really wouldn't care. They're moving it because their finding research was something is telling them this is a better window. It's because of their faith in the film and they want it to succeed that that is a better window. They really do their research. Think of the films you see, like they know how to market a movie. So I sort of put my trust in that and I know there was something that must have told them that this is a better window. I mean it's weird for me because we're doing different press conferences at different times and they sort of move the... I just want it to come out because I'd like to go to the premiere, sit in the theater and finally watch it with my parents and stuff. But you know, that day will come...someday. [laughter]

Q: Do you want to get away from like genre films?

Kristen Bell: I don't know that I would specify it. A couple that I've looked into are genre films and some of them aren't. A lot of questions that I've dealt with today have been about horror genre and what I think about it. When I read a script I truly don't feel like I look at it like "Oh I don't want to do a horror movie". It's like I want to read as much as I possibly can and some of it's going to be bad and some of it's going to be good. I can think I want a certain type of part but it's only until I read the actual project. There may be a fairly normal role that is in an unbelievable script and I'm like "I want to be a part of that project". Or there may be a script that's good and an unbelievable role and I'm like "I've got to play that role". I don't really look at it as like a genre or...I'm in my eighth horror movie and I'll probably want to do a romantic comedy but you know.

Q: Did you help shape your character in this film?

Kristen Bell: A little bit, yeah. A lot of it was where I knew Jim wanted it to go and I thought he was dead-on and so I had no reason to challenge any of it. I may have brought to it what I thought it needed and also tried to do exactly what he told me to do. He did so much research prior to shooting this movie I think he was pretty much dead on with all of it.

Q: Did you have a stunt double or did you do all the stuff yourself?

Kristen Bell: I did all of it.

Q: So you're a very physical person in real life?

Kristen Bell: I am a very physical... like a pretzel! I am a very physical person. I mean, I try to stay active and I find that I'm much happier and more centered and clearer in my mind when I'm paying attention to my body which just is like health and being active in general. I have like no time to go to the gym, like literally, so I'll just like run up and down the stairs 50 times at lunch or something until I'm out of breath. That'll be my workout for the day. It's ridiculous...it's like poor man's workout.

Q: Do your people get a little nervous because you have to do some difficult little stunt or something, they're like "Oh my God, she's going to break her leg and then she's going to be out."

Kristen Bell: The thing is that I'm so klutzy they think that every day. They think "Oh my God, she's going to fall down and break both her arms" Actually during one reshoot I did have a stunt double, this stunt girl named Allison, who incidentally stunts me on Veronica Mars, who is like so awesome. I don't know if you guys have seen the episode where she ran up the back of the car. It was the Clash of the Tritans. She ran out the door from the , there had been like a little ceremony, she ran up the back of the car and like slid into the passenger seat. She really awesome! Sometimes I take credit for her work [laughter] but just for a second. I'm like "Thanks so much...ok, it wasn't me it was my stunt double"

Q: How did they shoot the scene where you're being inundated by the hands at the very end?

Kristen Bell: It was up against a green screen and all the hands that are actually touching me are real, there's a lot of hand grabbing involved. Everybody got hand sanitized. They were really respectful about it because it's a very... and I get claustrophobic easily in general, so I was a little nervous about doing it. But it was up against a green screen and they slit holes for everybody's arms. There were twelve guys back there. They did the choreography of like the way they'd do it. Then everybody sanitized their hands and the camera was dead on and I started to scream and then they grabbed and pulled me back. I also fell back myself too. It was really creepy.

Q: What was your college experience like?

Kristen Bell: My college experience. I went to NYU so I went to school in the city. I went to school for two years then booked my first Broadway show so I like left and went to school part time for the rest. I loved college, partly because I'd always wanted to move to New York City and it was never like I was dramatic about that aspiration. It was just something that was meant to be and I never really talked about it because I was so sure about it. It wasn't like cockiness it was just like it felt right. I loved doing plays as a kid so I thought well why not do what I love for a career.

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Staci Layne Wilson reporting