Fast Chat: 'Lockout' key player Maggie Grace

When Guy Pearce slugs Maggie Grace in the face -- bam! -- he gets her good.

No worries, it's all part of a plot to rescue her in "Lockout," a new sci-fi film starring Grace and a bulked-up Pearce (and co-written and produced by renowned French filmmaker Luc Besson). What's interesting is how she sports a cut lip through much of the film and somehow makes it look . . . sexy. Call it a tough-chick beauty mark.

Grace, 28, an Ohio native, is known for small, notice-me roles in "Taken" (Liam Neeson's kidnapped daughter), "Lost" (snobby Shannon) and "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn" (a vegetarian vampire). Here, she plays Emilie Warnock, the president's daughter, on a humanitarian visit to a maximum-security prison in space (yeah, it's the future). A riot breaks out, she's taken hostage, and Pearce, a spy, must rescue her. The film is right out of the "Die Hard" playbook -- snarky wisecracks and nonstop action. It opens Friday.

Grace spoke with Newsday contributor Joseph V. Amodio about the "Lockout" shoot, which was interrupted by an unexpected family tragedy. But before their chat got serious, they discussed tattoos, embarrassing YouTube clips and the film's skeeviest scene.

When Guy Pearce sticks a needle in your eye -- I know it's not YOUR eye but . . . can you watch?

I can't. I squirm. Even on set, watching them shoot that, I was just . . . ughhh.

How was the aerial stunt training?

Guy and I had several fight sequences in space. I'd never worked up on a hydrowinch. It was exciting.

You're high up, hanging by wires, swung around like marionettes?

Like Cirque du Soleil. But the spacesuits are heavy, and it takes about 45 minutes to get into them. When you need a rest, they lean you against a wall. In one scene, we run and jump off the side of the ship. Poor Guy and I couldn't run in the suits. So they had to CG our legs in. I don't know if you've ever seen me run on screen, but it's not exactly the grace of a gazelle. There's a YouTube clip called "Maggie Grace Running," where they make fun of how I run. [She laughs.] This time, I didn't feel bad because Guy was in the same boat.

I heard he likes to do things "his way." Is that . . . a good thing or . . . ?

It is a good thing. He's wildly intelligent. Detail-oriented. You couldn't make a film like this without someone of that caliber. And he couldn't be warmer. And the directors -- good Irish lads with a long encyclopedia of dirty jokes.

Nice. On a different note -- do you still get questions about "Lost"?

I do. It's a blessing and kind of surreal to be part of such a pop-culture reference.

What's the weirdest question a fan ever asked?

I wouldn't say it's a question, but I recently saw a photo of a gentleman who had a tattoo -- a picture of my character, Shannon -- across his entire leg.

Really?

Not a cute picture. It's right after the plane crash with my face all scrunched up, screaming bloody murder. That -- across his leg. Amazing. I sent a picture to my parents . . . who were a little disconcerted, I think.

"Taken 2" comes out later this year. Now Liam Neeson's kidnapped -- and you kick butt.

She's definitely empowered. We shot everything in Istanbul and Paris. There's the most incredible car chase -- all through the streets of Istanbul.

Then, there's "Decoding Annie Parker," starring Helen Hunt, based on real events about the discovery of a breast-cancer gene.

That's such a beautiful script. I'm a geneticist, a small role. But I've had a lot of cancer in my family, and lost people I was close to, so I wanted to be a part of it.

Did relatives come to mind when reading the script?

Yeah. I recently lost my grandmother -- actually . . . while shooting "Lockout" in Serbia . . .

Oh, I'm sorry.

It's kind of a downer. I haven't talked about it in the press . . . but it really speaks to why I love working with EuropaCorp. "Lockout's" my third film with that production company. They couldn't have been more caring. I'm in practically every scene, and it was a tight shooting schedule, but the producers worked it out -- they shot with Guy and sent me home to Ohio. . . . To spend some time with her. Because it was very sudden. So . . . that was incredible. It meant so much to my family and . . . umm . . . [She sighs.] Sorry . . . that's like the first time I've said that. It's not really something that comes up talking about . . . this movie. [She chuckles.] I couldn't be more grateful. I was so impressed by that level of humanity. I don't think most production companies would've done that.