Today the long-anticipated fright flick The Happening happens in theaters, along with the very beautiful, very charming Zooey Deschanel. You may remember Ms. Deschanel from such films as Tin Man, Hitchhiker?s Guide to the Galaxy), The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, and the hilarious Will Ferrell comedy Elf. In The Happening, she plays one half of a couple (Marky Mark being her husband?the lucky dog) on the run from a wide-scale epidemic that threatens the fate of humanity. However just before her departure, our own Joltin? Joe McCabe caught up with Zooey for a one-on-one interview about movies, her budding music career and how Jim Carrey just can?t say no to her?

(Note: Catch up on all the latest Happenings with our Happening coverage!)

By Joseph McCabe

Alma, the character you play in The Happening, shares some, but not all, of your personality traits. Do you seek out a certain type character to ply or do you prefer as wide a variety as possible?

I try to choose ones that are different just because it?s more fun to have a challenge. Obviously it?s me playing them and if I think something?s useful to the performance I?ll draw upon it but I try to mix it up as much as I can.

Night said he was looking for actors that could bring a ?light? to the ?darkness? of this film?do you find that, in many of the characters you play, there?s a certain light? Does that appeal to you as well?

I like playing characters that, on the page, you?d think were unlikable ? and saying, ?Let?s make this person loveable and why did they do this?? That?s much more interesting to me than playing someone who's all Pollyanna and obviously likeable. There?s not a lot I can do for them. But if you have a character that?s kind of grumpy and mean and you say, ?Why are they grumpy and mean? Maybe it?s because they?re insecure.? There?s all kinds of reasons. But that sparks my interest more.

How was it working with M. Night on this? Even though you?re still young, you?ve worked with a lot of filmmakers. What makes him unique?

He?s someone that cares very deeply about making films and he?s truly gifted at it. I mean he has a pretty unbelievably clear vision of what the movie?s gonna be before anyone even sets foot on set. He is very meticulous, he knows exactly what he wants. But he does let you have your performance within that. But it?s within his landscape. I was very excited to be a part of one of his movies because he makes really interesting films that are different from other movies that I see, and cinematically he?s really able to do a lot, like speaking the language of cinema, because it?s not all about the words. He shows a lot. Which is exciting to see?it?s not overly reliant on the words, which I like too. But then again he?s also a really great writer of dialogue. He knows what to say when, and where to keep it.

Weirdly enough, his way of telling a story visually strikes me as similar to the kinds of performances you give?just slightly left of the norm, marching to its own rhyme and rhythm?

I feel like the more that you can get in touch with your own rhythm? As an actor I try to be in touch with my own rhythm because if you?re not in touch with your own rhythm you?re gonna have trouble being truthful, and I think everyone has their own unique rhythm. I think that?s true in any art. The more you can keep your art pure and focused, the more you?re able to protect it from being overly affected by the commerce side of things. I think so many movies end up being made by committees because its all about what?s gonna get people in the theaters. And there is a time and a place for films that can also be great art and be entertaining, but I like a director like Night who is very appealing and very entertaining to the masses but also a director with a vision and a point of view, who?s trying to make movies that mean something. That?s really refreshing.

The Happening?s a lot of different things, one of which is a horror film. Are you a fan of the genre?

I?m more of a classic thriller/Hitchcock kind of gal myself. I don?t watch a lot of new horror films, but I like The Ring. I like that movie. I haven?t seen a horror movie since that. I?m not a genre-oriented person?I?m not like ?Oh I?m into this genre or that genre?. I like anything as long as it?s well made and the acting?s good and has an interesting thing it?s saying?then I?m interested.

In the past few years you?ve done a few fantasies like Hitchhiker?s Guide and Tin Man. It seems like you?re kind of open to whatever?s out there.

No, there?s no prejudice. [Laughs.]

What?s your greatest fear?

I don?t know what my greatest fear is. It?s hard to say. I mean there?s a lot of things out there that you say ?Oh God that?d be awful?? And somebody says that or something else. I?d have to agree that?d be awful. I don?t think I have a greatest fear per se. There are definitely certain things that could create anxiety in me, if you wanted to? [Laughs.] If you just felt like making me anxious, you could say all kinds of different things. What would make most people anxious? No, I try to not be too anxious because then you destroy the life that you have.

In recent years you?ve been working pretty hard on your music career. How do you balance that with your film career?

I just do them both now. When I?m not doing music, I?m doing movies and when I?m not doing movies, I?m doing music. They just sort of coexist. I think there?s always a sense that a lot of people would say you need to choose one or the other. I don?t think that?s true. I think that, yeah, you have to sacrifice some of your free time and you have to work really hard, but I love to do both of these things and I think that?s really worth it to me. I do need a break. I?ve been doing movies straight for a year and a half so I?m really tired, but I love doing music. I wouldn?t stop doing music for the world, and I love doing movies too. I love doing them both, so I can?t ever say never. There might be a time where I might say, ?Let?s leave this for now.? The love that I feel for them both?it?s like a great love, you can?t take it away from me. I mean, I?ve always been playing music. I may not have been putting it out, but I?ve always been playing it and writing it.

You?ve got a number of films in the pipeline. Can you comment briefly on what?s next for you?

Yeah, I have Yes Man with Jim Carrey. That?s a sort of classic comedy. Jim Carrey plays a man who?s kind of stuck in his ways and he starts following a self-help guru, Tony Robbins-type of man, who has a philosophy where you make a covenant where you start saying yes to everything and he starts saying yes to everything and his life sort of changes. I play a free-spirited girl he meets and?hilarity ensues.

How could it not?

How could it not. [Laughs.] And then I did a movie called Gigantic with Paul Dano and John Goodman, and that?s sort of a comedy. It?s character-driven comedy. It?s hard to explain plotwise, but the script is hilarious. It?s really funny. Now I?m doing a romantic comedy with Joseph Gordon-Levitt called 500 Days of Summer. It?s sort of all of the key moments in a couple?s relationship and it sort of tells the doing and undoing of their relationship.

Just one last question? In The Happening, how closely do you relate to your character, to the decisions that she makes. There is, for example, a kind of minor infraction she commits, which she regards as a major act of infidelity.

I mean, she?s extremely neurotic which I am not. But I think we can all relate to feeling guilty about things that aren?t necessarily the things you need to focus on. Sometimes you become focused?for some reason?on something ridiculous. Your mind just decides to latch on to something silly or ridiculous. I think that this event highlights just how silly it is. Like, taking on the young girl as her sort of charge, so to speak. I think I would definitely do that. I think if you?re in that situation?no question.