With Terri now playing in limited release, we're finishing out the last interviews from the film and we've got Creed Bratton (The Office) and Olivia Crocicchia (Rescue Me). Bratton plays a different type of role than we usually see him in, but still manages to bring in a certain humor and charm even in his dramatic scenes. Crocicchia, although a relative veteran of TV, is absolutely a fresh face to watch, especially with several more independent features coming up. Director Azazel Jacobs noted how in particular there was something about her soft voice that fit the character, and she definitely brings something original to the traditional girl-of-your-dreams role. During the press junket I got to chat with the two actors. During the interview, we discuss some of the preparation for a pivotal scene in the movie, as well as some off-set antics and how Olivia got her start in the business. Hit the jump for the full interview.

How long were you guys filming for?

Creed: I worked about two, three weeks.

Olivia: I think in total it filmed for about 6 or 7 weeks. I think I worked 4 weeks.

This was all last summer?

Olivia: Yeah, last August.

How did you prepare with the director for the [nude] scene? Were you comfortable?

Olivia: Yeah, I was super comfortable with Az [Director Azazel Jacobs] and with the DP. I was comfortable with everybody. Everyone was nice and super understanding. He was great with not over-directing me, I had a lot of freedom in that scene and in a lot of scenes. He was just kind of like “It’s your character, I’m not a 15 year old girl, you are, I wouldn’t know how you would act.” So that was good, I had a lot of freedom and I was comfortable and it was good (laughs).

Can you talk about your character’s transformation?

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Olivia: I think she’s just really lost and confused and when she was a victim, she was just hurt. When she started becoming friends with Terri, it wasn’t like she was trying to take control or be aggressive, she was really just intrigued by the fact that she’s been around not-nice people her whole life: her family gave her no love, her friends gave her no love, her boyfriend gave her no love. And she meets this kid who she doesn’t even know, and he’s so accepting of her; he gives her love. And that’s really what she’s so attracted to and why she likes him so much.

Creed, do you prefer playing this type of person versus your character on The Office?

Creed: Well it’s a stretch of course to go against comedy—well it’s not a stretch, we’re actors—but it was refreshing for me to go against the grain. I was talking with Olivia earlier and I was talking about how when the characters first came on the screen were people going to start laughing and say “Oh, is this the guy from The Office?” but I think the way Az put it together it didn’t come across that way, and some people weren’t even sure it was me, so that’s good.

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Did you have to really get into character?

Creed: It’s funny, Jacob and I, we laughed and kid a lot so we’d be laughing hysterically and then they’d go “Boom!” and we’d go right into character. So no, I didn’t prep at all, I just started acting.

Can you both speak a little about the rehearsal process? Was there any formal rehearsing or just before you shot?

Olivia: It was really just a quick run-through. We’d have a quick run-through to get the tone or idea we wanted for the scene and that we wanted to get across. We didn’t have that many—I mean I don’t know about you Creed.

Creed: I didn’t have any rehearsals, we just came and did it.

The scene at the end of the movie with the three kids, can you describe what that filming was like and what you guys discussed prior to it?

Olivia: Well that was the last thing we shot so we were really comfortable with each other, we knew each other really well and I think in total, the scene took three days to shoot. It was fun to shoot! I mean it wasn’t difficult—I mean it was kind of awkward.

Creed: He kept everyone off the set, right?

Olivia: Yeah it was a closed set; everyone was really respectful for certain parts. We worked really hard on it. Everyone just wanted it to be good.

What was it like working with John C. Reilly?

Creed: I didn’t have any scenes with him. But, I mean he came on the set every day, and we ended up playing guitars together. His wife is one of the producers so we’d go up to the house first and play guitar, and they’d say “I know you want to stay and play guitar, Creed, but you gotta go.”

What would you guys play?

Creed: We’d play Appalachian music, folk stuff.

Olivia I know that you’ve been on Rescue Me for a number of years but can you talk a little bit about how you got interested in acting and how things started for you?

Olivia: I got interested in acting when I was really little. I did just little theatre when I lived in Connecticut with my mom and family. I started driving in to New York and I did Law & Order and then I got Rescue Me. After I did that for about five or six years, I decided that I wanted to get into films so we moved out here and I’ve done a few indies, but I’ve traveled back and forth for Rescue Me and now that we’re done shooting that I can focus on this.

What upcoming projects do you have after Terri?

Olivia: Yeah, I shot an indie over this winter called Besties with Madison Riley. It should be at Sundance, hopefully. It’s kind of like a cute, dark, teen comedy thing. It’s really fun and it’s really sort of suspenseful. My character was really fun to play because she really has no friends or anything to be happy about in life…she’s not attractive, she gets no attention from boys or anything (laughs) and she really just idolizes her neighbor who’s 18 and a senior and just really beautiful and popular.

Creed, what drew you to the role? And what do you have coming up?

Creed: The way it was written…It was a chance to do something different than the Creed character. I just did a Barbara Streisand film called My Mother’s Curse and then later this fall, a movie called The Ghastly Love of Johnny X where I play an alien from Planet X who comes to Earth and becomes a rock star and dies of debauchery, and his son comes down and brings him back for one last concert.(Laughs). It’s a family film.