Actress Dreama Walker attends the premiere of "Joan Rivers: A...

Actress Dreama Walker attends the premiere of "Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work" at Angelika Film Center in Manhattan. (May 26, 2010) Credit: Getty Images

I remember the incident when it happened, and it really resonated because the victim and I were the same age. And I felt that could have happened to anybody; it struck a chord with me. When I was approached about the script,

I felt this was always important to me, always something I wanted to have a discussion about.

This man who does the calls, I think he subconsciously took over, and she thought she was going to get in big trouble, and there was no way out of it. It was so gradual, by the time the rape happened, she was so resigned, and so overwhelmed, she couldn't look at the situation clearly.

I took this movie because I thought it would be very well done. At Sundance, the film ended, and throughout there were people getting up. And then we had the Q and A, there was this one woman saying it's the year of women, the film was misogynistic, it was degrading to women. I didn't know the movie was going to have that kind of reaction. I knew it would be difficult to watch, but not that it would be degrading to women. I don't think we should ignore events that happened to women just because it's the year of women. Not every movie you see is supposed to make you cuddle with your family at Christmas. It's supposed to ask what would you do if you were in this situation.

Yes, it was a relief in a sense, I get to show off my comedic side, I don't say mean things with a smile, which I had been doing. I think has something to do with the fact that the way I look is easy to camouflage being a total [witch]. It's a lot more interesting playing someone with layers, and I enjoy that, at this point in my career, I haven't been typecast.

I started doing community theater when I was younger. I loved to do different voices, being someone else, escaping my boring life in suburban Tampa. Whenever there was a girl in a movie or TV show, I wanted to be her. When "Waterworld" came out, I wanted to draw a giant map on my back. I was a very weird kid. I've been fascinated with Diane Keaton since I remember; "Annie Hall" is one of my favorite movies. I love comedy, but I also wanted to be known as a dramatic actress.

My mom always told me my name was inspired by a dream she had. Then, later, I found out she knew someone in her life named Dreama. It's kind of a crazy name, but it's a real name, and because I'm in show business, people assume it's a stage name.

I think I look kind of young, I have big, giant eyes, and I could play the same character over and over again. But I know I'm all over the place and can do a lot of things. Besides, facial reconstruction would be very expensive.

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