Patrick and Malin are Nite Owl and Silk Spectre 2

You might have seen the colorful graphic novel cover with the big yellow smiley face....with drops of blood on it! This is the logo for "Watchmen", one of the most popular and award-winning graphic novels of all time. Set in an alternate 1980's timeline in which the U.S. is still on the brink of war with the Russians, a group of ousted, masked heroes have "retired" from crime fighting but return when one of their number is murdered.

Now, the popular novels hit the big screen as Watchmen the movie is released on March 6th. Playing costumed heroes Nite Owl and Silk Spectre 2, are Patrick Wilson (of Phantom of the Opera) and Malin Akerman (of 27 Dresses). In the Watchmen film, "Owl" and "Spectre" are old pals headed for a romantic hook-up while they solve a friend's murder and battle adversaries.

In Beverly Hills, we captured the dynamic duo to find out what acting and fighting was like in their superhero costumes (Malin is fighting in boots with 5-inch heels!), how they approached their hot love scene, their efforts to please fans and how much did they know about the "Watchmen" craze before getting the roles? Picture Malin (a brunette in the film) with long blonde hair and in a cute black sleeveless tunic by Thomas Wylde with beaded yoke over pants and Patrick in pale lavender shirt and light grey suit. We had to note that both actors have beautiful piercing pale blue eyes.

TeenHollywood: Okay, let's get this over with right away. You two had some hot love scenes in this film. How did you approach doing those? [both actors grin].

Patrick: We talked with [director] Zack [Synder of 300] about how he wanted to shoot it. It's great we got along so well. It's always uncomfortable no matter what the situation is but I felt like we knew the story we wanted to tell and it's so important for these characters. Someone told us they wanted to cheer at the end of the scene!

TeenHollywood: You do root for them to get together.

Patrick: Yeah. When I saw the movie and my wife was there, we both sort of high-fived at the end of the scene, because (she'd) never seen a scene like that in a superhero movie. That's what you wanted. You wanted all this passion, the weird fetishness, every bit of that was intentional, on purpose and we knew... when you have those parameters of what you set out to do, then it gives you a freedom to just go for it. It's a great scene.

Malin: We were so lucky because it was sort of towards the end of the shoot and so we'd been together for six or seven months and I'd gotten to know his wife and kids. So it's kind of the comfort level was there and the respect and it was definitely a closed set and there were the minimal amount of people.

Patrick: We also were in the Owl ship so there wasn't a lot of room anyway. Maybe Zack in there, a camera guy and a microphone.

Malin: Right, and you can't really fit too many in there. Exactly. Just two or three people or so.

TeenHollywood: That's got to make it easier. I don't think either of you has played an action, superhero before. So what kind of training did you have to do, especially for the big fight in the alley?

Malin: Intensive! We actually had fight training throughout the whole film. Two months prior to filming, I started training with an ex-Navy Seal that they put me together with and that was the most excruciating thing I've ever felt in my life. But it was an amazing start to the whole process. We did a month of real training and then when we shipped off to Vancouver we started doing all the fight coordination with Damon Caro who is fantastic. So we had a full month before we started shooting to figure how to make punches look real and stretch so that we could actually kick higher than just above our knees. It was a long process and it never ended. On our days off we'd have our fight training and we'd do the one scene, the jail breaking scene, that was the first one.

Patrick: We did about a month or several weeks of training of just different styles because every character had his own style. So you worked with the stunt coordinator as well as each double. You had as much input as they did because you came up from the acting side of it. I feel like my character fights like this (shows boxing-like move). Everybody was so receptive so we could help them in that respect and they could help us in the physical respect. You planned your training according to which fight was coming first. Even on our day off, we'd come in and [practice] in our street clothes. And then we'd get in the suits so you'd get used to fighting in your suit and feeling how that feels, because that's a whole different element.

TeenHollywood: Malin, they had the costumes on display upstairs. Yours is, of course very sexy but it looks very hard to move around in.

Patrick: [to your reporter] Did you try it on? [We indicate 'nope', although Malin and I are about the same size].

Malin: I would love for you to try it on. But, it was so uncomfortable. I'm not going to develop a latex fetish at all. It was definitely phenomenal looking. Don't get me wrong. It was beautiful and the design was incredible, but if I were a superhero I would wear sweats and a t-shirt, add a belt to fashion it up. But it was not, like Patrick said, we train in sweats and running shoes and then you put this costume on and you go, 'I have to start all over again because I can't even bend my elbows in this.' Then in heels; stilettos, are you kidding me? So I mean it was definitely a challenge on its own terms, but again it served its purpose. The end result was pretty fantastic.

TeenHollywood: That's for sure. Did you two have to have body casts made?

Patrick: Well, I got lucky. [To Malin] Did you have the real body cast?

Malin: [frowning] Yeah, I did.

Patrick: Oh no! I had a computer-generated one. You stand in this machine in your underwear and all these things [swirl around] you and they make this cyberscan, that's what it's called, so I didn't have to sit there with straws and a bodycast. Did you really?

Malin: Yeah. I got the good old-fashioned kind. I don't know why. I'll have to talk with them. It's a weird feeling, it definitely is. It's a strange thing to have straws up your nose and try to breathe through that. And also I had to do it in heels. So the full body cast was in heels. I've actually had an operation in my foot, where my foot bends, so my bones aren't as strong as they should be. When it starts to dry it gets really heavy and it started weighing down on [my foot]. I said, 'Guys, we have to take it off.' I endured it as long as possible. Lucky, that's not an everyday thing. It was a one-time situation, but it's not, again, the most comfortable process.

TeenHollywood: Patrick, your character Nite Owl is quite a lot like Batman; a rich guy by day, lots of cool gadgets etc. When you read the part, did you consciously think, 'I don't want to make him like Batman'?

Patrick: Dan [Nite Owl's real name] was so far from Bruce Wayne. It's more Clark Kent than anything. You don't run from that. I love Christian Bale's Batman, but I also remember exactly where I was seeing Michael Keaton and growing up on Adam West and watching Val Kilmer, and Clooney. Really, I've had such a history with Batman on the screen, so it didn't cloud my vision at all. Those similarities were on purpose. It was exciting, if anything.

TeenHollywood: How was the first day wearing the suit?

Patrick: I remember the first day I was in the suit. They hadn't painted it yet so it was all black. So I really liked that. I remember calling my buddy (and saying) 'I look like Batman! Am I playing Batman?' It was fun. I don't know what it's like to play Batman, but knowing Nite Owl now, it was exciting to think what Dan would think playing Nite Owl, because that's the point of this: what Dan feels in the suit, not just how Patrick does.

TeenHollywood: Malin, you have some very deep conversations with Billy Crudup who plays blue, glowing Dr. Manhattan. In reality, we was on stage in a pajama-like motion capture suit with lights all over it. Was it just hard not to laugh in the beginning, seeing him like that?

Malin: Yes [she laughs]. It didn't work. I think all of us sort of had the same reaction and Billy was such a good sport about it. I mean, he comes out in white pajamas with this blue...well, he's a walking Christmas tree, basically, with dots on his face.

Patrick: Little battery pack on him [now, we all laugh].

Malin: Here we are having heavy dialogue. The battery packs sort of weigh him down and it looks like he sort of pooped his pants. And I'm definitely a giggler and that's one of the things that you [looking at Patrick] definitely didn't help with. Every time the camera turned around on me you'd start making faces at me!

TeenHollywood: [to Patrick] You little devil!

Malin: But, Billy was amazing and for the first week he was just kind of like, 'Alright. Get your laughs out and then let's get started.' But after a while you got used to it and he's such an amazing actor that you just kind of get into his performance and you forget all about it until they say 'cut' and he starts to go, 'My battery packs are heavy.' But it took a while to get used to and then of course that love scene was really interesting because he couldn't actually touch me because you had all these LED lights that are scratchy. They scrape you and also there's the worry about getting electrocuted from the finger in your mouth with a lot of electricity. So it wasn't anything romantic in that sense at all. It was more just trying to keep the laugh in and concentrating on the performance, which eventually just became a natural thing. We got used to him and then when we'd go out to dinner at night we'd be like, 'Oh, God. You look so different. There you are.'

TeenHollywood: Hilarious! How familiar were both of you with the graphic novels before getting the parts in the movie?

Malin: I had actually read the script first and I had no idea that there was a source material. I had never heard of 'Watchmen' and I didn't really grow up in that world. It's not a commercialized novel whereas you've seen the 'Batmans' and the 'Spider-Mans' and all of that and so you kind of know that they exist in pop culture. So I read the script and then I went out and got the novel and read it, and again, was blown away. Also, I was really excited that both the novel and the script were similar. It was such a great thing. I just thought, 'What a fantastic opportunity to be able to do something like this and with some really great source material.' It's just something really raw. It's fantastic.

Patrick: I'd heard of it. I had a buddy of mine who was very much into comics. So I called him and told him and he was so excited and nervous, and wanted to read (the script). So I knew it was hallowed ground. And then I went out and got the graphic novel because, for not growing up in that world, I always admired it. That's odd to say, but vicariously through my friend, I sort of knew their importance. The problem is I'd get into one and he'd give me other graphic novels, and I'd say 'that's not really great'. Then he'd say, well, you started with 'Watchmen'. Most of them will pale in comparison'. It's been sort of fun, (looking at other comic books) and saying, this isn't as good.

TeenHollywood: The 'Watchmen" fans can be pretty vocal. Did either of you read any fan reactions when you were cast in the roles?

Malin: [laughs] Yes. Some of it was lovely and some of it was harsh, which I totally get. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. There were talks about who they thought would be better and people had their favorites. I get it. I'm the same way. But I think ultimately, once they see the film, then that's sort of Judgment Day and then they can say whatever they want. I've only checked a few times, in the very beginning and then I decided not to because you see some of the harsh comments and you go, 'Okay. I'm going to just leave it for now, until they actually see the film.'

Patrick: I've seen a bunch of stuff. I remember being cast fairly early on, and even though the deal wasn't done I knew from Zack for several months, so I'd be watching TV or just hear randomly, something about how they want this person cast and I'd be like, 'oh man, but I already have the part'. I feel like writing an email and saying, 'I've got news for you! I'm nowhere on your wish list but I'm going to be him'. Because there have been so many attempts at the movie and it's been in the fans' conscience for so long, in some ways it's forgiving because 15 years ago it would have been somebody else and 10 years ago it would have been somebody else, five years ago it would have been somebody else. So none of us have ego about 'they didn't think I was the best choice'. There's nothing you can do with that anyway. You can't play that. You just do your work. You do as much work as you can and be as faithful to the script and hopefully that wins out in the end.

TeenHollywood: Patrick you acted with Jackie Earle Haley before in Little Children with Kate Winslet. I think he played a suspected child molester. What was it like reuniting with him in this? [Jackie plays Rorschach]

Patrick: When I heard he was being considered I got so excited and I kept crossing my fingers that he was going to get it. I was in Vancouver shooting another movie when I heard that he got cast and I could finally call him. We got to hang out more than we did working together on "Little Children," because those characters overlapped only a couple of times. But the first day we worked together was breaking into Adrien's office so we were both in our [costumes]. It was really funny. Before we started it, we just looked at each other and said, 'Here we go again, like Brad (his character from Little Children) and Ronnie (Jackie's character from "LC") from some very weird sequel to Little Children. It certainly gave us a lot of laughs. He's awesome. I think he just knocked this part out of the park. I really do.

TeenHollywood: What was it like to work with young director Zack Synder on this?

Malin: Phenomenal. I don't understand how he did it. First of all his preparation was much longer than ours and being the first one on set and the last one to leave [everyday], keeping up the energy - he was incredible. He was always positive. I never heard him yell at anyone. He was diplomatic. He kept everyone afloat. He was this monster machine. It couldn't have been any other director. The energy that that man has, even when we were all dying down in the 16th hour he was ready to go, going, 'Lets pump it up! Look at this!' He was making the sound effects and getting you into it. It was just exciting. He's so collaborative.

Patrick: Even if you had a dumb idea like, 'what if I did this'? He'd be like, 'let's try it.' On Sundays, we'd go and play football. A shoot this long and in Vancouver in the rainy season, it can be depressing. You're there from August to February. A long shoot. Every single day that man was so positive and when that's your leader, you want to be like that. 'Let's go for it. You can lead me into battle'. He knew exactly the story he wants to tell. And when you have somebody like that, everything else doesn't matter.