Adapted from author Susan Minot's novel, Evening is a movie about timeless love -- the kind between friends, lovers, and mothers and daughters. In early June, cast members Claire Danes, Natasha Richardson, Hugh Dancy, and Mamie Gummer were gracious enough to talk with me about the film during a press session in New York City. Below are excerpts from these interviews. 

Q. Claire, was this a different type of role for you?

C. Danes: Yes, it's really not so often that I have a chance to play somebody that's this dynamic, layered and relatable. She's so alive. Anyway I was very privileged, and I couldn't have been in finer company.

Q. What was it like to work on certain scenes that seemed intense -- like the rain scene with Patrick?

C. Danes: They were so exquisitely written that I didn't have to work too hard to analyze them or refine them. We read them a couple of times in rehearsal, and it just worked. I think it was so clear about what it was asking of us, that we had very little resistance, so we were fortunate.

Q. Mamie, do you have a favorite scene in the movie?

M. Gummer: The bedroom scene -- the writing was so beautiful. I loved it from the minute I read the script; I just fell in love with the character and in that scene I really didn’t have to do anything, just say the words, and how could your heart not break? I have sisters, and I felt that the intimacy between girlfriends was lovely … and you don't see that a lot in movies, laughing and crying at the same time.

Q. How did you feel having your mother (Meryl Streep) on the set and playing a later version of you?

M. Gummer: I was very happy with her work. She did an adequate job playing me. We didn't have a formal sit-down conversation about continuity or character choices. You're introduced to this character at 24 and not again until she's 70; she lives a full life that we couldn't imagine. 

Q. Hugh, from an actor’s point of view, what was it like working on a film which had so many big female roles?

H. Dancy: It was great working with these great actresses. Working with Claire, Mamie, Glenn and so on. And being aware that these other actresses are also going to populate the other side of the story. But that’s not to say that the experience was 100% estrogen. It didn’t particularly feel like that in the moment --partially because I was there and Patrick was there, but also because we were surrounded by crew.

Q. How did you feel about the material?

H. Dancy: Even more exceptional to me than just the presence of that many females in the movie was the quality of the writing. The questions it tackled. Then the way that -- in my mind -- it succeeded in attacking these big questions. That felt very clear, even when we were doing it. I felt it was something unusual.

Q. Some people think playing a drunk is easy, but it's not, right?

H. Dancy: I’ve been very gratified by people telling me how hard it must be. It’s not. It’s not easy, because the risk is you just really veer far too far.

Q. Natasha, what was it like working with your mother (Vanessa Redgrave) in this movie?

N. Richardson: It felt very special to play mother and daughter on screen, as well as both of us playing these characters -- being able to bring all our relationship, all our love, history, pain and difficulties in order to serve this film.

Q. Did you find it difficult to come to grips with a parent getting much older in real life, and then, having to deal with that same situation in the movie?

N. Richardson: Seeing her lying on that bed, in that room, she was heartbreaking to look at anyway. There were times it was very hard to hold it together, because it does make you think of all those things.

Q. One of the themes of Evening is living without the love of your life. What are your thoughts about being happy without that great romance of your life?

N. Richardson: I suppose it's saying just go on the journey, and even though some things don't work out how you hope they will -- something else great comes out of it. The important thing is that you go on the journey, not just go, 'Okay, that's it, I'm staying in my little box.' It's about missed opportunities and regret, but it's also about really embracing life.

To read the full interviews with these stars,  go to www.reviewexpress.com and click on Evening Interviews.