Eileen Condon hears how The Omen freaked out actress Julia Stiles...
It's one of the scariest movies in screen history, so it's not surprising that actress Julia Stiles says making the new version of The Omen gave her nightmares.
The 25-year-old actress takes over the role made famous by Lee Remick in an update of the 1976 chiller and insists it was enough to keep her awake at night.
"I really had horrible nightmares while we were shooting," she says, looking concerned. "I could barely sleep and I was terrified. I thought maybe we were tempting the fates. The idea of The Omen really terrified me."
The actress had good reason to be nervous, as the latest production, which was shot in Prague, was beset by a series of mysterious events, including exploding lights, blurred, unexplained images appearing in photographs and, in one case, a special effects supervisor recording a meter reading of 666 - a figure which refers to the mark of the devil in The Omen - and a number he'd never previously come up with.
Yet, despite the spooky happenings Julia says she was determined to put her own fears to one side and get stuck into the blood-curdling role.
"I was really surprised - and then some - when the director John Moore offered me the role," she says. "But I also knew there was something in John's vision for the film and character that I could really sink my teeth into."
Yet the star realised just how much she'd have to face her fears when she was asked to recreate the classic scene when her character is pushed over a balcony by her murderous son.
With the camera positioned so close to her it meant Julia had to take the plunge herself - literally.
"I would wake up in a panic in the middle of the night thinking about it because the stunt was scheduled for my last day of shooting. I thought what are they trying to pull?
"They had me hanging above the floor for quite a while," she adds with a smile. "There was a safety lock on the rig, and two stunt guys were holding me up for three days. I could feel the tension of the rope, and them straining a little bit. I looked down and thought, 'What if the stunt people get really tired? Or they have a muscle spasm?, but it went off without a hitch."
The Omen cased a sensation when it was released in 1976. The satanic horror starred Gregory Peck and Lee Remick as the unsuspecting parents of Damien, the five-year-old Antichrist on a mission to bring about the end of the world.
The movie was a huge hit and Julia reveals she's always been a big fan.
"It stayed with me after the film was over because there's a psychological through-line in the story," she explains. "I remembered images from the original film because they're like those in common dreams."
In this latest outing, which also stars Mia Farrow and British actor David Thewlis, Julia appears as Kathryn, while actor Liev Schreiber takes over the Gregory Peck role as Robert Thorn, the well-meaning father who inadvertently hands over the spawn of the devil to his wife.
Seven-year-old Seamus Davey Fitzpatrick makes his big-screen debut as Damien, and Julia admits she couldn't help but feel protective towards the youngster.
"It was difficult because there's supposed to be a distance between my character and her son, but I'd try to keep my distance and then I'd have to go and apologise to him and reassure him that I was actually a nice person and this was all just acting," she smiles.
The Omen marks a dramatic departure for the talented actress, who is normally associated with romantic comedies, such as Ten Things I Hate About You and The Prince And Me. But Julia, who made her stage debut aged 11, admits it's all part of her plan to become as versatile as possible.
"I never have a preference for the size of a film or budget, my main goal is to be a chameleon, and play various different kinds of roles so that people don't get used to seeing you in one particular type."
She's wary of what she calls "the Lolita phenomenon" - the way other actresses her age are used as marketing tools.
"I grew up with Madonna and other female icons who were sexual, but they owned it. They were in control and they had the brains to back it up," she says.
"Today pop culture is full of images of young women who are very sexual and provocative but they're not the ones in control of their image. They're just put out there for public consumption.
"It's not even so much a feminist issue for me, it's more of an artistic one. It's an empty product."
Not just smart when it comes to her career, Julia is also one of the best-educated actresses in Hollywood, combining college studies with her movie roles.
The actress, who has just graduated with an English literature degree, says her education provides the perfect balance to the glitz and glamour of Hollywood.
"It's nice to go to a place where my professors really demand that I perform intellectually and care about my ideas and what I have to say," she explains.
"I get to go and read great literature and hear what really intelligent people have to say about it. It's a wonderful luxury and stimulating."
Not that she'll be burying her head in a good book for too long. The actress is back on the big screen soon in The Bourne Ultimatum, the final sequel to the Matt Damon trilogy, The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy.
"I'm not sure what it is I have to do in it yet," she grins. "But I think it will be something substantial and interesting."
* Omen opens on Tuesday June 6
