Q: Even though the movie is about a monster, the motivation of the characters is centered around Rob and Beth, and Rob’s quest to rescue Beth. Did you two talk about the backstory behind your characters and what might have motivated them to feel the way they do about each other?

ODETTE: We did. We got into that a lot because we weren’t given any back story. You’re just thrown into the beginning of the script into these characters. We had to create something for ourselves. We came up with different situations as to how they knew each other and how their relationship has progressed.

MICHAEL: It was a real challenge to create that back story without a traditional storytelling device. I love the device they came up with; this idea that something’s being erased as the night is being filmed. But it was a challenge since you can only show so much.

Q: Michael, did you see this movie more as a drama or action film?

MICHAEL: [The drama] was what I was more interested in. I really wanted to make sure this guy was as wimpy as possible. At every opportunity, I wanted him to be as freaked out and scared as anyone would be. I didn’t want him to be especially brave. I wanted him to be an anti-action hero.

Q: What did you think of the script when you first read it? Did they give you any details regarding the script during the audition process?

LIZZY: We weren’t allowed to read the script before signing on to do the movie which is a bad idea in general. But it worked out in the end and they tried to throw us off. They gave us audition scenes with “Alias” pages and we didn’t they were from “Alias” and that was confusing for everybody.

TJ: No one knew what the script was. When I was told about the project, I didn’t really know who J.J. Abrams was. I asked someone in my management if it was an indie film or an arthouse film. They were like, no, it’s a big movie. It sounded like it was going to be some kind of “Reality Bites” with some teen relationship film. Little did we know it was going to be this goliath project. It was so different, so ambitious and highly anticipated.

Q: Did you think you would get your parts?

LIZZY: When I first got there, there were a bunch of people there and nowhere to sit inside which is why I was sitting outside. I sat down there for hours texting my agent, “It’s just a bunch of damn models! Can I please leave? I’m not going to get this part!”

TJ: I’m a comedian so if you told me a year ago that I was going to be in this movie, I would have laughed in your face. It was unlike anything that any of us had ever done.

Q: So what was that like, jumping into a project that you didn’t know much about?

MIKE: I still remember the first time we all sat down [with the script]. We already shot the trailer. We had no clue, even in the trailer, who we were playing. We all sat down weeks later to read this script finally. You’re just watching everyone around the table finding out their fate or what happens. It was interesting because all of those things you do as an actor - where you want to prepare and work out your character - there really wasn’t much of a chance for that. We were right into feeling and it was a manic pace from that point forward. That’s why J.J. put us through the process that we went through: He knew he was going to get out of us what he needed.

Q: T.J., you have an interesting position where you’re behind the camera throughout the entire film…

TJ: What I was told about the film was that my character would be filming for half the movie and then the character of Rob would be filming for half the movie. Then I got the script and we found out our fates, it was really weird to see within the first couple of minutes I’m behind the camera and then I stay behind the camera. That was strange and I remember thinking, “Well, this is a wash. No one is going to remember my character, no one is going to care about him. I’m this auxiliary part.” But when you see the movie, you realize that I’m an important part of the film.

Q: Did you do a lot of the actual camerawork yourself?

I did a ton of voice over in the post-production but I’m on set for every single scene and I shot about a third of the film. I operated the camera so that was an interesting thing to. I had to worry about framing shots while I was trying to be mildly amusing.

Q: How involved was J.J. Abrams with the day to day production and did you get a sense that he and Matt knew from the beginning what they were going to do, or was a lot discovered and innovated right from the beginning?

MIKE: I think J.J. did what he wanted to do. He set out to give a monster to this generation, a monster that they could be proud of. We’ve all seen Godzilla obviously.

Honestly, I’m not a monster movie guy. When I sat down with J.J. and Matt and they told me I got the part, they’d ask, “What is this? What have you heard?” I’d say, “This is ‘Star Trek.’ That’s what everyone around town is saying because there is an actual Klingon nation named Cloverfield.” And then he said, “No, this is a monster movie.” And everything inside me went, “Oh shit” because there’s been a lot of campy and unsuccessful attempts at this in the past. But it couldn’t have been in any safer hands than J.J. Abrams. I think the moment it all hit us was the moment the trailer came out in front of ‘Transformers.’ We were only a couple of days into principal filming of the movie at that time and we saw the insanity that it caused, we knew that we may be on to something.

TJ: I think they saw the big picture more than we did. I remember J.J. saying when he saw the dailies, “This looks better than I could have ever imagined.” Nobody knew what it was supposed to look like at this scale. When we finally did see the final cut, it was very surprising and I don’t think we were prepared for it.

Q: Were you surprised at the reaction the fans on the Internet had to the first trailer in front of “Transformers”?

MIKE: I remember that day, I tried to go on the “Transformers” board on IMDB to see what happened and it actually collapsed the “Transformers” board and they created an alias link to a movie that didn’t exist, and it said that anyone who came on the “Transformers” board to talk about how great the trailer was for this movie, they’d be subsequently banned from this board. I think it’s so weird because you’re used to promoting a movie a certain way and doing the traditional press. There’s that thing out there that you can’t put your finger on with the Internet, where stuff takes a life of its own. I think that’s where the box-office gold comes from when you can win over the viewers of the Internet and let their imaginations go wild. Let people go wild and make up whatever they want. That’s the press for this film.

ODETTE: Yeah, it was unbelievable. They had this marketing plan; J.J. told us what they were going to do and he had this plan. I didn’t really believe it. I’m like, “Really? People are going to catch the Slusho shirt?” And they did. It just kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger. It’s unbelievable. It’s beyond me.

Q: There are several tough and chaotic sequences where things are going on, like running and screaming, for long shots and long periods of time. Was that a new experience for you all?

MIKE: It put the onus on the actors. There’s a group of them and you don’t want to let them down. The shots are so long and there’s so much stuff happening in one shot. You screw up, it’s not only you that has to pay, it’s everybody. So it kind of made everyone else step up to the plate and made sure they were on top of their stuff.

JESSICA: It was definitely more physical than anything I had ever done before, and more than I expected. I think reading it, it sounds really cool but then you start doing it, you realize how hard it is. Kudos to action stars. The movie was enough for me for a while.

ODETTE: I don’t think I realized I’d have to do so many action sequences and running all the time. You have to look exhausted and terrified so it did take a lot out of us, especially since we were shooting at night. You can imagine that when it hit 2 or 3 in the morning, and you’re running, it’s just unreal.

Q: In addition to the action sequences, there are several emotional scenes as well. Were those tough to do?

JESSICA: Any scene with emotion was hard, like when [certain characters] die because of the style of filming, we’d have to do upwards of 50 to 60 takes so keeping the level of emotions for that many takes was hard.

You had to figure out a way to tell the story with your body instead of your face which is not what you’re typically used to doing as an actor.

ODETTE: It’s difficult because once you get to that place, you have to keep going. You find yourself in this emotional state and you’re not acting anymore and you still feel so emotional. You have to overcome it and realize that you’re acting and this is your job and what you’re supposed to do.

Q: What are you guys afraid of most?

MIKE: I have a sick fear of what’s underwater.

JESSICA: I’m terrified of flying. In the scene of the helicopter, that was so hard for me to do. The first take I think is the take they used because I was so terrified. They threw me into the helicopter and I was like, ‘I’m going to die!’ That was really scary.

Q: Since this is such a high profile film, are you prepared for the craziness that might come your way from fans?

ODETTE: I don’t think we’ve even thought about it yet.

MICHAEL: Last night we had this MySpace party and it was at this dark bar and we show up. These are the people who are generating the buzz for the movie and I’m very grateful to them. They would say, “Can we take a picture?” I’d say, “Absolutely.” Then it evolves into the cast together and people are just sitting there taking pictures of us. It was really bizarre.

ODETTE: I felt like I was at a zoo or something.

JESSICA: Yeah, I’m cool with that not happening on a regular basis.

"Cloverfield" is now playing in theaters everywhere.