Welcome to Part II of DRIVEN’s exclusive series of one-on-one chats with the people who helped bring Watchmen to cinematic life.Yesterday: Jeffrey Dean Morgan AKA The Comedian. Wednesday:Watchmen director Zack Snyder. Thursday: a rare interview with Billy Crudup, AKA Dr. Manhattan. Friday: a surprise post.Plus: a chance for Watchmen fans to win a piece of collectible Watchmen swag (see the end of this post).

In Watchmen, the Stockholm-born and Toronto-raised Malin Akerman portrays Laurie Juspeczyk and her retired superheroine alter-ego, Silk Spectre II. After the jump, you’ll find out Akerman’s takes on  the film, the Watchmen graphic novel, and the tender side of superheroics.

When you watched the film for the first time, what did you think of Watchmen?
“I was so proud. It was beyond my expectations. I was breathless for the rest of the day. I’ve never actually felt like this because most of the time when you do a film, you sort of have an idea of what it’s going to look like, but this was great because it was a surprise. You got to see Zack’s (Snyder) vision, everything that he had been imagining in his head and you’d go, ‘My God, this guy is unbelievable.’ It’s the thing I’m most proud of in my career up to date.”

How familiar were you with the Watchmen graphic novel?
“When I first read the script, I was sort of blown away. So I went out and got the book and again was even more blown away. It is so well written. I was also excited at how well written the script was, considering the novel it came from. Usually, whenever they go from a novel to the movie, they tend to cut out way too much and it just becomes a whole other thing. But with this script, it was like, ‘Oh my God, this is great.’ I think we all became fans of novel along the way.”

Was it hard doing the more intimate scene with Billy (Crudup) as Dr. Manhattan, because he was in that blue Tron-looking suit?
“I have to say the first week it took a bit of adjusting to. We all must have laughed in his face so many times. He was such a good sport about it, he was like, ‘Okay, go ahead.’”

As Spectre, you  make love to both Daniel Dreiberg / Nite Owl II (Patrick Wilson) and Dr. Manhattan/Dr. Jon Osterman (Crudup). What were the differences?
“There ended up being two guys in bed with me for the Billy scene. But, Billy (and his stunt double) were wearing these white sort of pajamas with the blue LED lights, so I was more concerned with like, ‘Guys, are you sure he can put his finger in my mouth and it won’t electrocute me?’

It was really rough, and I was like, ‘Billy just try not to touch my face’ because you’d get scratches. So it was just trying to piece it together and make it look right. It was almost like Reiki massage, where you aren’t really touching, you are just going through the motions. So the difference was that there was no touching in that scene whereas the one with Dan was more human and natural.”

At what point in the shooting schedule did you film the sex scene with Patrick?
“It was towards the end, which was really nice because that allowed us to create just a relationship between the two of us as people and getting to know each other and being more comfortable around each other. Of course, it is one of those things where it’s never comfortable. You’re not walking around going, ‘Please let me take my clothes off.’ [Laughs] But the sex scene was so pertinent to the novel and to the film, it’s not gratuitous, it’s beautifully done and it was classy and it was respectful and everyone on the set was so respectful.”

Do you think attitudes towards sex scenes are changing in Hollywood? In the ‘70s, films showed a lot more nudity and half-nudity. Are we going back to that?
“I hope so. This country (the US) has really had a very strange situation recently with that, where the violence has just escalated so incredibly and the actual human interaction hasn’t. Look, we all have sex. It’s such a strange thing, but it’s sort of become like Basic Instinct, it’s a fetishized thing or it’s a very naturalistic movie. So I really do love the fact that in this film that the violence is innate in the material, but you also see the flip side of that, which is human beings relating to each other. I think it’s important for the world that we start representing that aspect.

What does it mean to your life to play Silk Spectre II, a character that Watchmen fans go gaga over?
“We get to live like rock stars.”

How do you feel about being a part of the Watchmen phenomenon?
“Actually, I don’t have words for the feelings. The magnitude of this is bigger than anything I’ve ever been part of and it is a little bit nerve-wracking, crazy and exciting all at once. I’m really hoping the film does well, because it was a passion project for everyone involved. So, hopefully, the fans will appreciate it, too.”

WATCHMEN WEEK CONTEST

To win an exclusive, collectible Watchmen prize, send an e-mail to talkback@DRIVENmag.com by 11:59p.m. E.S.T (Eastern Standard Time) on Wednesday, March 4. One winner, chosen by random draw, will be the recipient of a rare, limited Watchmen collectible. Thanks for your participation and good luck!

Watchmen opens in North America on March 6.

Tomorrow: Watchmen director Zack Snyder.