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CHRIS NEUMER: How did you first come across this project?

JENA MALONE: Well, I read Donnie Darko and sat down and Rich Kelly and Sean McKittrick. When I first read it, I guess I had the same reaction as everyone else, which was confusion. (laughs) I read it again before our meeting and I went in and sat down and asked a bunch of really strange questions.

JENA MALONE: Like what is the jet engine? Reading the script you get, not so much a visual story that you can follow, but you’re reading points along some sort of line and particularly for Donnie Darko it’s not a very linear line of story telling. So I had a bunch of questions like where things fit into each other and how the ending was significant to the beginning. Just random things. Rich went into the whole idea of what he was going through when he wrote it and what he wanted to do with it. I think he’s great. I’m almost his number one fan. I think it’s really incredible that he’s a first time director right out of film school. He’s so passionate and interested in telling his ideas. His ideas aren’t always as easy as people would like them to be.

CHRIS NEUMER: He’s not making stupid romantic comedies with Freddie Prinze.

JENA MALONE: Exactly.

CHRIS NEUMER: He kind of reminded me of M. Night Shyamalan in that respect.

JENA MALONE: Definitely. I think growing up, I’m sure he was influenced from Spielberg to Lynch to any number of filmmakers out there. I think you can tell that in his story of Donnie Darko.

CHRIS NEUMER: You were called in for the role of Gretchen. Was this an attractive role for you?

JENA MALONE: When I first read it, it’s the type of thing where you read the script and I was absolutely blown away by it. I’ve never read anything like it before or after. We met and I would’ve played a paperboy to be part of the ensemble cast.

CHRIS NEUMER: I’m never positive when these movies are shot, but was this the first role for you where you have played not a kid?

JENA MALONE: I guess. Yeah. For me it was the first time I played my age, which was at that time, 16 shooting it. And the character was 17. Instead of being the kid in the film, now I was the love interest. And she comes into with her own problems and point of view.

JENA MALONE: Absolutely. But also I think that’s one of the main reasons she ends up with Donnie. They’re both fighting their own demons. They kind of see in each other a–soul mates is such a horrible word and I’m not really sharp this morning–I don’t know, I think they are connected on that level. They’re hiding from their past and move from it. People kind of see them going down one distinct road.

CHRIS NEUMER: I have to ask, you’re not sharp this morning? Are you crawling out of bed now?

JENA MALONE: When I’m not working, I definitely I like waking up at noon. I sleep a lot. I think it’s important.

CHRIS NEUMER: Oh, I’m there with you.

JENA MALONE: The bottom line is that I’m 17, so I don’t really mind. I think sleep’s really important. I value it as much as waking up and having a full day.

CHRIS NEUMER: You’re preaching to the choir, sister. You don’t have to tell me any of this. I woke up at about 1:30 this afternoon. But I stayed up all night writing, so it’s sort of a deflated sleeping in.

JENA MALONE: I don’t really go to sleep until much later either. It’s kind of a nocturnal thing.

JENA MALONE: Yeah.

CHRIS NEUMER: The other thing that struck me when you mentioned ‘soul mates’ was that it seems like there are a lot of different takes on the purpose of the Donnie Darko take. Most of the people I’ve talked to see the romantic ideal, Rich was the only person who didn’t necessarily play that aspect up. Do you think that this multi-leveled reading was one of the film’s strong points?

JENA MALONE: Absolutely. That’s one of the strongest things you can say for a script is when you read it and you have an idea for it, you know what it’s about, but there are a lot of questions that the script leaves in your head. These aren’t questions in the sense that "I don’t understand this point" it’s more questions in terms of "I interpreted this in this way, is this the way it’s supposed to be interpreted?" This, in my opinion, connected with me. Upon a second reading you get several other things that you didn’t get the first time and I think that it’s the highest compliment you can pay to a script writer. It’s like a good book. Scripts are small ideas, mostly they throw words at you so you can try to visual something. They haven’t planned out any characters, arcs or… they’re just throwing together ideas and telling you visually, here, try and understand. That wasn’t the case with Donnie Darko at all. It was like you were entering this world and all these things made sense in this world. It’s funny, Rich–when I first met him he was saying me that it was this love story and that it all happens because of that. He was trying to sell me on the fact that my character was a integral part. I was like, "Rich, listen, I want to work with you guys anyway." I think he’s gone back and forth on that idea that Donnie went back to save her life, because he also changes a lot of other people’s lives. He also affects and changes the paths of a lot of people as well. It’s kind of narrow minded to say that he did it all for love, you know? But I do think that love was one of the reasons that he wanted to save her.

CHRIS NEUMER: Like real life, there are a myriad of reasons why you do different things.

JENA MALONE: Absolutely.

CHRIS NEUMER: Knowing that you’ve worked with several well-known directors, was it interesting working with a first time director like Rich?

JENA MALONE: Absolutely. The really interesting thing about Rich is that when I first met him, I was walking through the room, I didn’t even realize that he was the director. I thought Sean McKittrick was the director because he was fiddling behind the camera and he looked like he was 22. Then he started speaking about how he visualized this whole world and what kind of world he wanted to create and all of that. He has some of the most–his working relationship with the actors is unparalleled with any of the other directors I’ve worked with because he allowed you to take what your piece was and your lines and turn it into whatever you wanted it to be. He gave you all this freedom and at the same time he knew how to reign you in so that he could make his story what he wanted it to be.

JENA MALONE: Absolutely.

JENA MALONE: Four years old, yeah.

CHRIS NEUMER: Was this ever an intriguing concept for you? A period piece that is fourteen years old that is before your time?

JENA MALONE: It was a period piece. I was in a period that I didn’t remember.

JENA MALONE: It’s not that, I grew up in the ‘80’s and early ‘90’s and I have to think of those memories and what they meant to me. I think me, more so than anyone else, was more psyched by the idea and not as nostalgic. I loved it. I loved getting into the side ponytails and the weird clothes and putting your head in that space, kind of where my older sister was.

CHRIS NEUMER: That’s interesting. You’re the only person who has felt that way. You’re also the only person to have used the word ‘psyched’ in an interview with me. Some of the people have told me that it made them feel really old to have Rich talking about oldies music and then referring to songs of the late ‘80’s. You were part of the climactic night shoot where you got run over, right?

JENA MALONE: Absolutely.

CHRIS NEUMER: That must have been a bear of a night for you.

JENA MALONE: Well, yeah. I think in time, regardless of how planned out you are–Rich was going into it with a clean slate. You’re shooting an action piece and there’s all these other pieces that go into it. You’re also working with several minors on the set that have to get it done. You’re loosing light and it’s the end of the night and there are all these things that affect this one or two minute scene. It was really cold and really crazy out there. We worked all the way through the night until the sun came up. It was cold and strange and everyone was in their own head. It was the end of the week and I think everyone just wanted to go home. But it was good, I think it came out well. It’s an important part of the film.

CHRIS NEUMER: So you didn’t participate in any of the guitar sessions?

JENA MALONE: No. We just had our coffee and hung out and waited until the sun came up.

CHRIS NEUMER: And you were in that whole sequence. Even after you got run over you had to lie there. Dead.

JENA MALONE: Yeah. That was me the whole time. It was me when he was carrying me home. It was me in the car. The only time it wasn’t me was when they–they actually used a body bag to be run over in the shape of Gretchen.

JENA MALONE: Absolutely. I look forward to doing as many stunts as possible, but I was happy that they had a double for that.

JENA MALONE: Absolutely. Jake is really incredible. The first time I met him, we were sitting down at Rich Kelly’s house and that’s where most of the rehearsals took place. Jake came in and I was already there. We were supposed to be rehearsing all of our stuff. He was very sweet and shy on our first meeting. Then we broke that barrier down and I got to know him really well and he’s this smart, sweet, funny, sensitive guy who’s really talented. We walked into the rehearsals together and he’s giving me all these ideas on my lines and fighting for all these things structure-wise that he didn’t think made sense for my character. I was like, "Wow, you obviously care, regardless of whether it’s your point of view or your character. You cared about the truth and the reality of all the characters." I think particularly in a younger actor in this business it’s incredible to see someone who steps beyond themselves to look at the big picture.

CHRIS NEUMER: And I hate to use this term, but he was like a team player?

JENA MALONE: Absolutely. I think Jake is hilarious.

CHRIS NEUMER: Out of curiosity, where do you see this film fitting in in film history? You’ve had some time to reflect on this, with a year passing between Sundance and now. What do you think people looking back on this are going to see?

JENA MALONE: I don’t know. We made it and we saw it at the screening, I think all of us were extremely happy with what Rich gave people. Going to Passover with a friend of mine and sitting down with these regular guys in the valley and they were telling me "God, you were in Donnie Darko". It was weird, as soon as the DVD came out me and all of my friends waited in line to go and get it. That’s really great. I hope that it’s the type of film that by word of mouth more and more and more people see it. I think it’s not the type of film that’s going to age because, in a sense, it’s ageless. It has universal themes and it’s a period film, but the period makes it in it’s own world. I would just hope that more and more people watch it. I’m really happy that it’s out on DVD not because it’s like the final product.