Talk about the tone, and walking the fine line involved between dealing with a real situation in the Middle East and making a big action film out of that.

JENNIFER: Well, I think another thing to throw in there is what makes this movie great to me is that it really is...You see everybody in the movie 360 degrees. Our Saudi Arabian counterparts, you see Ali's character at home helping his father kneel into prayer position. He's humanized to you. You see Ashraf's character at home with his kids and his wife, and at the end of his day, and what his life is like. And so there's no judgment put on anyone. The film very much says, "We are all the same." And that's what I loved about it. I loved that there are no solid heroes. It's not like the US is coming in there with guns blazing and "We'll take of this!" My favorite line in the movie is when Jamie Foxx says, "Look, I'm not saying the United States knows everything, but this is something we're good at." We're not pretending to be perfect. And I loved that. It kind of took the onus off of us kind of just being like, "We'll take care of it!" But we are good at investigation as a country. And so that is a fair thing to say. Did I go so off point? What was the original question?

How much research did you do about Saudi Arabia? We get that great little history lesson in the opening credits.

JENNIFER: Right. Wasn't that cool?

Yeah. Has the film sparked more curiosity in you about the Middle East? What kind of research did you do?

JENNIFER: I did read several books and do some research just to be as familiar with it as possible. But I am not a particularly outwardly political person. I leave that to the other half of my family. [laughs] And so I focused as much, if not more, on Janet Mayes, and being a forensics expert, and what it would be like for her in that circumstance as much as what our relationship is overall.

Have you lined up anything for after you wrap up on Broadway?

JENNIFER: Thanks for asking. I do have a couple little things, but I don't think they're anything I can talk about yet.

Any clue?

JENNIFER: No, but they're fun. There are no fights.

Small indie movies?

JENNIFER: Nope. No, mama's gotta go to work. [laughs]

Genre stories?

JENNIFER: Yes and no.

Peter Berg compared you to Jodie Foster as one of the few actresses who can be feminine and strong.

JENNIFER: That's nice of him.

Do you find you're typecast as the kick-butt Alias woman?

JENNIFER: I don't mean to jinx myself, but no. I don't find that. I feel like I get a wide range of things that come my way, and I'm really, really lucky for that. I would love to go back and do a great action movie as long as the story is as good as this one at some point. But I love doing other stuff, too.

Are roles with strong female characters hard to come by? And there was a

rumor they might resurrect Alias as a feature film.

JENNIFER: Yeah, I hear that, too.

Would you consider that?

JENNIFER: I don't think it's really up to me. If J.J. were writing it and directing it, then absolutely. I think we'd all sign on. I mean, it's all in his crazy brain. But I haven't heard. He certainly hasn't mentioned that to me. But I'd be there.

And strong female roles?

JENNIFER: Look, think of any movie that you see. Think of this movie. How many men are there? How many women are there? One. That is every single movie. I mean, any time an actress gets to work with another actress, it's like, "Oh, there are two of us in a movie! How are you? Let's sit in the hair chair together!" We're lonely, women. Women get screwed in this industry. But yes, it is hard to find roles at all, much less strong females.

Are you cynical about that?

JENNIFER: No. I mean, look, I'm lucky. I'm working. I've made a living for a long time. I'm not a cynical person anyway.

You're not in The Jane Austin Book Club.

JENNIFER: What is that? Where's my manager? What was that movie? Why am I not in the movie?

How are the terrible twos going? What kind of stuff is going on at home?

JENNIFER: We've seen glimpses of terrible. [laughs] But for the most part, pretty smooth. We haven't hit two yet. We are very into pretend.

What are they watching?

JENNIFER: She hasn't watched TV yet.

Nothing?

JENNIFER: No. I want all the attention! [laughs]

If J.J. were to ask you to do a bit part in Star Trek, would you?

JENNIFER: Absolutely. Anything J.J. asked me to do ever, that's a clear, don't even worry, the answer's yes.

Thanks.

JENNIFER: I owe him.