English doesn't come naturally to Delphine Chaneac. But you'd never know if from her performance in director Vincenzo Natali's Splice, since the character the French actress plays (alongside actors Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley), with the exception of just a few words, does not speak. In tackling the role of Dren, the year's first great new movie monster, Chaneac does a remarkable job conveying her character's thoughts, feelings, and sometimes terrible desires, entirely through body language. We caught up with Chaneac last week, and learned how she came to be cast in the role, as well as the challenges in playing a modern-day chimera. Hit the jump to see what she had to say.

On creating Dren:

Not speaking helped me a lot. In the beginning I was like, "Okay, she doesn't speak." I thought that would minimize my character, but, in fact, no. It was the opposite. That helped me a lot to create. To be more creative, to be more artistic. And Vincenzo [explained] a lot, so it was easy for me to understand what he wanted. But he never told me, "You have to do that or that." He told me, "Okay, find your way." I did a lot of rehearsal. So I had time to work, on the dance, whatever. I found a way to make my character that worked perfectly with what Vincenzo wanted. He told me a few days after rehearsal, "You know Dren more than me." I'm like, "Okay, wow that's [saying] a lot!" Because I knew he wrote the script eight years before. I was like, "Wow, that's heavy." Because when you think about a movie or whatever… I wrote a book in France, and if somebody directed my book, it's hard. Because you have to give your story. And it's the same for a director when there's an actress or an actor that takes the character. So at the beginning I was like, "Whew. Okay, that's a lot. That's a huge responsibility." Because I knew that Splice, okay, it's Adrien and Sarah, but it's Dren also. So Dren is very important in this movie. And this movie is so unusual, that's amazing.

It was a little bit hard in the beginning, and I thought I was very bad in the beginning. I didn't speak very good and I was shy, the same stuff [as Dren]. It's hard. You have a lot to do. And every day your mind is working, because you have to understand people, you have to concentrate, you have to be precise. Because Vincenzo is very precise, and very sweet and very nice, but you know what he wants. Sometimes it's hard, because for my character the work with the body was very intense. So sometimes my body was tired. Not me, not my brain, but my body.

But I think you never have a movie like this two times in your career. You have one chance. So take it. Do it! It was unbelievable.

On the audition process:

The audition was in France. That was funny because I was in the casting for another movie, for which the girl's back had to be completely naked. And the casting director told me, "You have a lot of muscle." I said, "Yeah, I did karate since I was eight." [Laughs.] She said, "You know, there's a Canadian guy who's trying to find a girl…" I was like, "Yeah, I can do it, maybe." She told me, "Can you meet the people tomorrow?" I was like, "Yeah, but I have a plane [to catch]. I have to work [on a movie] in Germany." She told me, "Okay, come at nine o'clock." But at nine o'clock there was nothing. And I was waiting in the street on my scooter, because everybody has a scooter in France. [Laughs.] Then there were two guys coming, [Vincenzo and producer Steven Hoban], and I thought, "Okay, maybe this is the Canadian guy…" But I didn't understand, because I knew Cube and Cypher, and I thought, "This guy's crazy. But I love that he's crazy!" So I was expecting that. [Later], Vincenzo and Steve Hoban told me a story. They'd thought, "Okay, maybe it's our Dren there." But I didn't know I was the first one to be cast. They told me, "Okay, you're an animal and a human." I was not prepared to do that. I knew nothing about the movie. I didn't know what I was. So I was like, "Okay." They said, "Can you shave your head? You have to." I was like, "Yeah." It was funny, because it was almost ten o'clock, and there were twenty girls [at the audition]. Because I was in a rush, I did a lot of different things. Sometimes it's better when it's like this, because you don't put pressure on yourself. It's just natural.

I went to Germany to make my movie. And then after that I was cast. It was funny, because they saw a lot of girls, and all the time they'd said, "Do you remember the first one? She was good." After one month, they came to me and said, "Okay, we like you." They said, "Okay, you are our Dren." I was so happy. I was like, "Yes! Thank you very much!" That was amazing. Because I think one movie like this you can have in your career. It's just amazing. And for a French girl, it's unusual. I love the movie. I love Splice. Not because I'm in it. But because I think it's a very intelligent movie. There's a lot of questions, and it sticks in your mind when you go away. There are so many subjects in it. So I'm very proud.  

On her reaction upon first seeing Dren on screen:

When I was on the set, I was very happy to shave my head. It was part of the process of being an actor. I love that. But the French people don't like that. So the first time I saw the movie, it was a little bit hard for me to see me like this… I think that I'm not the same. I don't have the same body right now as in the movie. Because the stunt work was so hard that your muscles grow very fast. It's not muscle [now]. But I remembered the work when I saw the movie the first time. And the second time I enjoyed the movie. It was good. Because I don't speak in a movie, I was more focused [the first time] on my movement. So I didn't enjoy the movie. Because I was so focused on what I did and what I didn't do, I was a little bit angry. But the second time, I saw the movie.