Michelle Rodriguez first proved her mettle in American indie pic "Girlfight", going on to play with the boys in "The Fast and the Furious". Now she's fighting an army of zombies alongside Milla Jovovich in Paul Anderson's "Resident Evil"...

Did you enjoy adapting a video game?

What are you, nuts? Hell, no! To make a video game come to life was definitely a childhood fetish of mine. I have to admit there's not much substance there but it was fun. The director Paul Anderson is like an adult trapped in a child's body. He knows what he's doing. We made the film with such little money. He got some guys from London to pull off the special effects and create these creatures. I wasn't running from some guy in a blue suit. These were, like, real zombies! As gritty as they get. Black stuff in their mouth. Pus coming out of their face, eye contacts with pus in them, people with bad breath! It was very real.

Do you enjoy making films with lots of special effects?

I was like a little girl wanting to learn from Daddy, just asking questions about the special effects. It's pretty intriguing what you learn. Twelve minutes of three-dimensional footage cost so much money. Like, $60 million. Your imagination runs wild. You have all these possibilities. You can do anything with film and make anything come to life. With an imagination like mine, you can get to people in so many ways - you can entertain them and educate them in the same note. But it's very expensive to entertain them!

Have you played the game before?

Oh, of course, I wouldn't have been in the movie if I didn't. I mean, why else would I be attracted to it? I kick butt. It's a good game. It has a Hitchcock-ish feel to it. If it's anything like the video game, you guys are in for something good.