Brad Anderson's Transsiberian is one of the best movies of the year and one of the best thrillers in a long time. Starring Woody Harrelson, Emily Mortimer, Eduardo Noriega, Ben Kingsley, and Kate Mara, the excellent movie details an American couple's horrific journey from Beijing to Moscow on the legendary Trans-Siberian train line through the tundra of Russia. The American travelers - Harrelson and Mortimer - encounter a pair of English speakers (not exactly common on a train through Siberia) played by Noriega and Mara. Only the most heartless interviewer would spoil anything from there, but it's a must-see of Hitchcockian tension. Kate Mara, who made such an impact with her small role in Brokeback Mountain and bigger parts in We Are Marshall and Shooter, once again has what could be called a "small part" but it's a crucial one and Mara nails it. Her character, Abby, is the most mysterious in the film and the one that might linger in the memory of the audience more than any other. Mara took time out of her busy schedule to talk to The Deadbolt the day before her movie's release and she couldn't have been sweeter or more interesting. She's the kind of actress who you want to see succeed and she truly does with Transsiberian.

THE DEADBOLT: I really loved the movie and I don't say that easily. I love what Brad's done.

KATE MARA: Yeah, he's so unique. Everything he's done is so different.

THE DEADBOLT: They really are. And from each other too.

MARA: Exactly. That's one of the reasons why I love him. One of the main reasons. All of his movies are so different.

THE DEADBOLT: Honestly, you have a crucial role but not a lot of the dialogue. Is it tough being the quietest character in every scene?

MARA: There were hard parts about it and it was one of the reasons why I liked it. It was something that I hadn't really had to do before because she's actually, sort of, in a weird way, kind of in the background. It is a really important role - she's sort of there, quiet, taking it all in. When I was reading the script, I was kind of like "What's going to happen with her?" Trying to figure out why she's there; what's her deal. It was hard at time because you have to make sure that you're not just sitting there. You have to actually stay more focused than you would if you had lines. It's easier to get distracted by your own thoughts. But I loved it. I loved playing that role.

THE DEADBOLT: With all of those quiet moments and scenes, she's kind of a question mark. Did you and Brad come up with a back story for Abby?

MARA: Nothing that people need to know about.

THE DEADBOLT: Did you work out how she got to where she was on that train?

MARA: A little bit. That's all in the process of it. We didn't really have rehearsal time. But Brad is definitely helpful in that. Especially with a character like that you have to think about where she comes from, why she's there. Everybody else is like "why is this young girl there?" But I kind of like it that he left it open-ended. She could be a bunch of different things.

THE DEADBOLT: When you got the script did you worry about the physical demands?

MARA: I don't usually tend to worry about that kind of thing. I definitely didn't. I was excited to go to a new place and experience something like that. It WAS really cold. There was nothing really physically demanding for me in the movie. I felt really bad for the crew the whole shoot.

THE DEADBOLT: Where did you guys shoot?

MARA: Lithuania. And it was the dead of winter. It was really cold - so much colder than it actually looked. It was brutal.

THE DEADBOLT: Have you ever traveled through Europe or Asia by train?

MARA: I took a train when I was a lot younger, like 15 or something, just my Mom and I, but that's very different from the Trans-Siberian. I was in Scotland recently and I saw the Scotsman, which I think goes from London to Scotland and it looks so stunning. I really want to take that.

THE DEADBOLT: Were there cultural challenges in Lithuania?

MARA: Oh yeah. If you go anywhere, you have to adjust to a different kind of lifestyle. We were living in a hotel, which is always weird. I shot a movie in Glasgow and I had an apartment. It's easier to adjust if you have your own home, but we were living in a hotel. It was hard. It was actually really hard.

[SPOILER WARNING...]

THE DEADBOLT: You said you didn't really have a lot of physical demands, but it does get a little rough at the end.

MARA: That's actually true. It was more my voice.

THE DEADBOLT: How do you prepare yourself for a scene that horrifying?

MARA: I didn't really do much. The make-up I had on really helped. That's all you really need. It looks really authentic. It had people on-set...like Woody kept coming up to me convinced that I was actually hurt. He was very funny. He kept checking on me. He couldn't believe that it wasn't real. It wasn't hard to fake that.

[SPOILER ENDS.]

THE DEADBOLT: What makes Brad a different kind of director than others you've worked with before?

MARA: Everybody's different. It's almost harder to find similarities than it is...

THE DEADBOLT: What are his strengths?

MARA: He knows, because he wrote it, exactly what he wants. He's really specific. Even the look, our character's look. Which is rare. Not all directors care quite as much and are as specific. My character in the script is described exactly how I look in the film - even the dark eyeliner. A lot of people are like "What was that choice about?" And I tell them it was in the script. He was really specific about that kind of thing. He really does care about all of the little details.

THE DEADBOLT: I was talking to an actor recently who said that every film is a learning experience. I'm wondering what you learned on this movie?

MARA: He's right. Every movie IS a learning experience. But it's not always obvious. I didn't leave thinking "Oh, this is what I've figured out." I think every movie is a learning experience because you get to work with different actors and I think, a lot of times, you get better working with certain people. I don't necessarily know what, specifically, I learned, but I definitely agree with that. Also, just living in another place and shooting in a place like that - it was a really different experience. I got to work with really amazing actors, but I don't know. You learn just by watching them.

THE DEADBOLT: Is that a major factor for what roles you choose? Your collaborators?

MARA: It's different for each thing. I could do one scene in a movie and it would be fine if I get to work with someone I really admire. Like with Brokeback Mountain - when I read the script, I was only in one scene. They added a few others, but I didn't care. I wanted to work with Ang Lee and Heath. I was a really huge fan of Heath Ledger's. Also, the script was really brilliant. For this, I really liked my character, but it was a combination. I liked the character but I knew that he had a really cool cast involved already. The cast, for me, has a lot to do with it.

THE DEADBOLT: As a young actress, who's done a great range of roles...although you don't do much comedy, are you interested in doing comedy?

MARA: (Laughs.) Yes. Totally. I just saw Pineapple Express. It was hilarious.

THE DEADBOLT: Is there anyone who's career you look at and go "that's how I'd like mine to go"?

MARA: I admire, I love what Cate Blanchett and Kate Winslet - I love their choices. You never know what they're gonna do next. They're totally like chameleons. I would love to be like that.

THE DEADBOLT: What's next? You shot a movie in Scotland.

MARA: That movie, The Stone of Destiny, is going to Toronto soon, which is cool. And I just finished a movie with Jeff Bridges and Justin Timberlake called The Open Road. It's a road trip. Jeff Bridges is Justin's father. They haven't seen each other in a long time and Justin asks my character to go with them and bring him home to his mother in the hospital. It's a road trip kind of movie. I think they're gonna try and take it to festivals. Hopefully, it will be at Sundance.

Transsiberian opens today in select theaters.