Maggie Grace

Interview By: Rebecca Ford
RebeccaFord@TheCinemaSource.com

The day before her interview with us, Maggie Grace was backpacking through South America. Really, we're serious. She flew in last night, and bought a dress because all she had to wear was grimy clothes from her trip. And somewhere along the way Maggie fell in love.

'My greatest love at the moment is travel,' explains Maggie.

Maggie plays Kim, the estranged daughter of a former spy (Liam Neeson) in her latest film, Taken. When she's kidnapped in France, her father uses his old skills to try to save her.

Taken explores the issue of kidnapping, and sex slave trafficking, a topic which Maggie learned about several years ago. 'It completely bowled me over,' she explains. 'I grew up in Ohio, so I was pretty sheltered when I first found out about it.'

'It's really mind numbing,' she continues. 'Some of the girls I met in Bucharest think that Romania is heaven because they've made it from Moldova and people are so desperate.'

After knowing what she knows, does Maggie feel safe when she travels'

'I usually travel with a coed group,' says Maggie. 'But certainly I am the paranoid den mother with my girlfriends. I've done a bit of backpacking through Europe,' continues Maggie. 'Not so much hostels, but I was definitely the most paranoid of the group and that was before this movie so you can image me now.'

Maggie's character in Taken varies in her demeanor. She is at times high'energy, and at other times she is drugged out and sedated. We asked her which of the two was easier to play. 'I think it's easier in the scene where I'm pretty drugged out and not really present,' says Maggie. 'Definitely easy for me as an actor to be that way too; It was much easier to be someplace else,' she states.

When asked what she thought of Taken as a finished product Maggie had nothing but praise for the film.

'It was absolutely riveting,' she says. 'The tension is just pulled so taught. The script'I hadn't really experienced reading one before'as far as an action thriller not being the genre I watch the most,' she continues. 'It was just an amazing read. But to see it really executed in such a way that it's absolutely unrelenting.'

Maggie is also known for her role on the hit TV show Lost. Now that her character isn't on the show anymore, we asked her what it's like to watch it. 'I'm not lessening the joy of watching it, but for me it's sort of watching a moving yearbook,' she laughs. 'It's not the same suspension of disbelief. No matter how well written it is, It's more like 'Oh my gosh, so-and-so had to kiss so-and-so!''

'It's sort of like if all your best friends had to suddenly kiss,' she explains. 'You can't quite invest in it as a TV show in the same way.'

We couldn't help but ask about the controversy over some of the actors from the show receiving driving citations, and she had her own explanation for it. 'I will say, in their defense, we shot a lot in these pineapple fields in the middle of north show,' she says. 'I think the speed limit is like 12, and not a lot of the guys on the show are compatible with a speed limit of 12'not that I'm saying it's ok to break the law'but it's a pineapple field so you can see how that logic takes over.'