The Number 23, a psychological thriller based in part on the number 23 phenomenon, stars Jim Carrey as a dogcatcher who becomes obsessed with a book given him by his wife Agatha, portrayed by Virginia Madsen. The book then turns their lives upside down. Carrey, Madsen and director Joel Schumacher recently sat down with me for a chat about the film.

Q: Jim, did you know about this phenomenon because you named your company JC23?

Jim Carrey: No, never. A friend of mine in Canada kind of handed it down to me. He was seeing it everywhere, added up license plates, doing all these things. He had a book full of 23 phenomena. I said he was crazy, and then I started seeing it everywhere.

Q. Virginia, what drew you to this movie?

Virginia Madsen: I've wanted to work with Jim for many years. He's such a dynamic actor. Jim was exciting to me because of how you watch how him grow as an actor; I mean when he was Andy Kauffman, I watched it three times. It was an incredible performance, and I don't understand why he didn’t win an award for it. And he's such a genius at comedy.

Q. Joel, did you change any of this script while shooting?

Joel Schumacher: It was so original. A first screenplay is always a blessing of not having the Hollywood machine suppressing the writer. The characters in the book were gray amorphous beings with big black hollowed-out eyes with no pupils, which would have meant you would watch half the movie without any investment in this movie, and I immediately said that whoever plays Walter and Agatha should play both parts. Then Jim adds a lot to his character and Virginia brings a lot of ideas; when you cast right they bring a feast of themselves to it.

Q. Joel. how hard was it for Jim to get into these different characters?

Joel Schumacher: It was hard. The breakdowns were hard. You have to go to that place, you can't pretend. All that stuff when he's writing on the walls, that's all closed off. There's just a wonderful guy with a hand-held camera and Jim in that room, and I 'm outside with a video assist and we have really shattering music playing, but as Jim explained he had this ear wig in and I was saying…well, he should tell you.

Q: Jim, about your characters in 23, did you feel more comfortable being one or the other?

Jim Carrey: Well, I love Walter because he's the family guy. He's the guy who wants to have a normal life. We're in a constant state of denial that we live on plates of rock that are floating on molten magma and nothing is stable in the universe, we just want to keep things from moving too much, or changing too much. So I like that character, he was very loving with his family and he loved his job. But the other character was a little bit different for me to play, so that's exciting for me.

Q. So you liked playing Fingerling?

Jim Carrey: I did like Fingerling, and Jenny (Carrey's girlfriend Jenny McCarthy) liked it. It's amazing what a tattoo does for a girl.

Q. Virginia, was acting with Jim what you expected?

Virginia Madsen: Even better. Jim is so happy in his life right now so he was a wonderful presence on the set. He was on time, knew his lines, and actors don't always do that. He would have incredible ideas as an actor, but never at my expense. My ideas mattered too, and I appreciated that respect, that we were peers and it wasn't the Jim show. I loved being with him everyday.

Q. Virginia, how did you pull off that sultry Fabrizia character?

Virginia Madsen: That was that pretty cool. I was brunette a long time ago before I got pregnant. People are so funny with hair color because some said, "You look really cool as a brunette," but when I became a brunette they said, "Oh, you're not blonde anymore." But people judge you more when you're younger as far as your looks. Now it's just fun and it's really great to have a role where you can transform yourself, because I play dress-up as a living, and when I get to do that, it's great.

(To read Diana’s complete interviews about The Number 23, go to www.reviewexpress.com.)