Academy Award winner Julia Roberts, one of the most respected and beloved Hollywood performers, goes into a very dark territory in SECRET IN THEIR EYES, a remake of the Argentinian film that won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Picture in 2010.

I recently took part in a round-table interview with the actress, who talked about crafting the character of ‘Jess’ an officer that has to deal with the murder of her daughter.

“How do you show a person in the beginning, and how you should her later but empty? We tested different things, we tried to make it look real. […] As much as you want to be invested 100%, and you want people to connect and have an experience, it’s acting. At the end of the day I will go back to my home and my family. You need to keep a perspective.”

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In one of the most emotionally charged scenes, her character unexpectedly finds her daughter’s body inside a dumpster.

“I didn’t know what I was going to do in the dumpster scene […] I was trying to stay focused in my mind, without anticipating. I had a very clear idea of the love these two people had. The actress that played my daughter was so remarkable, she informed my character so much, in ways that are immeasurable. It was about this person being your whole universe, and suddenly coming home without her, having lunch without her, etc.”

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Roberts also referred to the fact that her character was originally male, and the whole “gender gap in Hollywood” issue.

“Somebody was talking about gender equality today. The genesis of all that is this qualification of “two strong women” instead of “two great characters.” There are great roles in this movie; some are played by boys, some by girls […] I have been offered a ton of scripts were they offer me to play a character that was originally male, and I haven’t done them. So I don’t think that’s the trick to it. Here, it was a great part. I thought that there were some things that needed to be shifted for the sake of the movie. It’s about having the ability to understand who she is at the very end. If you feel against her at the end I think that something didn’t work.”

The fantastic cast, directed by Billy Ray, also includes Chiwetel Ejiofor, Nicole Kidman, Alfred Molina, and Michael Kelly.

SECRET IN THEIR EYES is now playing in theaters nationwide.

A tight-knit team of rising FBI investigators – Ray and Jess, along with their District Attorney supervisor Claire – is suddenly torn apart when they discover that Jess’s teenage daughter has been brutally and inexplicably murdered. Now, thirteen years later, after obsessively searching every day for the elusive killer, Ray finally uncovers a new lead that he’s certain can permanently resolve the case, nail the vicious murderer, and bring long-desired closure to his team. No one is prepared, however, for the shocking, unspeakable secret that will reveal the enduring, destructive effects of personal vengeance on the human soul.