Since the thought of aliens landing on Earth from another planet is as relevant today as it was in the 1950s, moviegoers have been captivated by the story of the classic film The Day the Earth Stood Still for years. Just like War of the Worlds, and the many alien invasion movies that followed, The Day the Earth Stood Still taps into the fear that humans may not be the only ones to inhabit the solar system.

Almost 60 years after its original release at a time when the U.S. was entering the Cold War and the nuclear proliferation era just got underway, The Day the Earth Stood Still returns to the big screen at a similarly heated political climate but with an angle on the major threat the world faces today - global warming. In the Scott Derrickson directed remake, Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly, Kathy Bates, Jon Hamm, Jaden Smith, and a slew of other familiar names, are tasked with saving the human race while the world comes to grips with the fact that man is not alone and we need to turn green to save the environment.

At the film's press junket in L.A., Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly, and Jon Hamm of AMC's Mad Men sat down with journalists to reveal how they battled aliens for a second time and how they made it out of the new The Day the Earth Stood Still alive.

What made you want to be a part of this?

KEANU REEVES: I had the same question you had, then I spoke to Scott Derrickson. Then I went, ‘Okay, it’d be fun to play an alien, and it’s a worthwhile story.’ And that’s when I came on board.

But he’s half alien, half human.

REEVES: That’s correct. Yeah, I mean that was part of the interesting side of the role was that Platu becomes quite human.

The movie’s about saving the planet. Are you doing anything in your personal lives to help the planet?

REEVES: All I can; recycle, a couple of solar panels, and some rain forest conservation.

JENNIFER CONNELLY: Similar. We drive a Prius, we recycle. We put out light switches when we can and my husband’s better at it than I am. And, um, all those things that...

REEVES: Oh yeah, and make this movie.

What did you base your character on?

REEVES: It really came to me through the obligations of the character in the story. It was in the script, you know, so that was really where I worked from. The character has certain cues. When he’s born and the first time he starts to speak, he tries to drink a glass of water and says, 'This body’s going to take some getting used to.' So it was just kind of the concept of the separation of his consciousness and his body. I just approached it like any other role.

Your character has a huge responsibility in the movie. How do you approach that?

CONNELLY: Well there were - yes, it felt like a huge responsibility. I was happy that it wasn’t just - I think it was really clever what Scott did. You know, it’s not just that Helen - it’s not just on my shoulders in reality. I think the relationship between Helen and Jacob is employed in a different way than it is in the original film. It really functions as sort of a little microcosm of sort of human nature and how we’re treating each other. You know, they’re sort of in conflict, and then there’s a bit of a crisis and then there’s a sort of reconciliation. They each take responsibility and there’s a movement toward a resolution. And Klaatu observes this. So there is that dynamic, there is also the Barnhart scene and other encounters that he has that help to shape it. So that was a little bit of a relief, that it wasn’t just me.

I like the idea that she wasn’t, you know, I wanted people to be able to identify with her and I didn’t want people - I thought it was important that she herself be aware of the task and the enormity of that task in that position. So I like that she has a moment with Barnhart where she says, 'What do I do? Tell me what to do!' She’s aware that this is kind of - what the stakes are and what she’s found herself in. I liked about Patricia Neal’s character in the original that she is open minded and she’s a very strong, free-thinking individual. I thought that was important to carry over, that bravery. I thought those qualities - to be a woman, a human without prejudice, without bias, is really essential. That she be able to communicate and that she be really - that you feel the depths of her love, but those were all really important things.

And what about working with Jaden Smith?

CONNELLY: Working with Jade was fantastic. I think it’s really clear he has a lot to offer. I think he did a great job. As I mentioned it was a complex relationship and I think that’s a lot of nuance to ask of someone his age. And I think he did it beautifully, and he even seemed to have a good time doing it, which was really a relief, you know.

Jon, how would Don Draper sell this movie?

JON HAMM: Don Draper would sell it, probably poorly. I don’t know. That’s not necessarily his forte, the modern science-fiction epic. He’d rather stick to products in his own time.

Keanu, what is it about the sci-fi genre that keeps pulling you back?

REEVES: Well, I love the genre and I approach it like any other film, I guess, is the short answer. You know, I think science fiction provides great storytelling, storytelling opportunities, and I’ve just in the past had the fortune to be part of good stories and science-fiction genre films.

Jon, how did you come aboard? And what have the past couple of years been like for you?

HAMM: We’d wrapped the first season of Mad Men I think in like September. They hadn’t really all aired. I came on relatively late to the project. It was already going and I came kind of into the scene where I basically explain what’s about to happen. It’s sort of three-page long monologue about astronomy and trajectories and things that - I’d basically got off a plane, got fitted and then thrown onto the set, which was a little bit nerve-wracking. But she [Connolly] has the opportunity to be involved in something like this is amazing for me. I’m still relatively new to all of this.

That gets into the next part of the question, which was the last couple of years have been bizarre, to say the least. It’s still kind of a weird thing to wake up and come to this and sit next to these people and talk about things like this. So it’s new and weird and terrifying, all of that stuff, but still very exciting. And as an opportunity to do something that I’ve wanted to do since I was a little kid, to get to do something like this and get to work with, not just Jennifer and Keanu and Scott, but I mean, David, the director of photography, David Tattersall, who shot Star Wars. I mean, what? Really? Like, okay, that’s cool, I guess. That’s pretty nice. So yeah, it’s fun, which is, I think the overriding feeling of what this career should be at the end of the day - is an opportunity to have fun and do cool stuff. And this is pretty cool.

Did you ever expect Mad Men to take off the way it has?

JON HAMM: Well, I think that the larger issues of the show, you know - one of the big themes of the show has been change, and that’s been kind of a significant watch-word in the recent culture as well. I think that when you’re looking at a time where there’s a huge kind of paradigm shift in the social vibe that was the 1960’s, you explore kind of the beginning of that and we’re now moving through the rest of that, there’re are a lot of parallels to right now.

So it’s not lost on some of the themes of this film, too. It’s sort of like, look... take a look at who we are and what we’re doing and maybe there’s a better way to figure it out. So I think those things resonate in the culture. It’s a small cable show that nobody really watches, but yet it resonates larger than what it is. And I think that’s why the show has struck a chord.

Do you have any green traditions for the holidays you’d like to see people implement?

REEVES: Do you? [laughs] No, is the honest answer. It’s an interesting question, though. I’m all ears.

Your character’s personality changes in the movie, so I wonder if there’s something in you that you would like to change.

REEVES: No. I’m perfect. [laughs]

When you’re solving the complicated math problem with John Cleese, it seemed like a musical duet.

REEVES: That was intentional. We were thinking about it as a kind of dance and, you know, conversation.