The film has quite a lot of action. What sort of things did you have to do?
I spent a lot of time incredibly wet (laughs). Absolutely soaking wet through – trousers, sweater, my shoes, everything. It was miserable and I’m such a little girl about that sort of thing. I didn’t complain about it, but inside I was thinking ‘oh no, not again’! There’s one sequence where the waves are coming in and I have to scoop up this little girl and save her, which is all great, but inside I was thinking ****** hell! Can this please just be it’! And the little girl was having a great time. In between scenes I’d wrap myself in a towel and she was swimming around and loving it.

What sort of preparation did you do for the film?
I just read the script and made sure my accent was in good shape, because really, no matter who I was playing, the story is about a world in disarray. When something like this happens – and hopefully it never will – when everything is about to be destroyed, you can’t hold on to any idea of who you are or worry about your worldly goods, because it’s all going to be swept away. It’s very fundamental and you end up as a human being – skin, flesh and bones – fighting for your life. So what research can you do to play a character caught up in that? It was more about asking yourself, ‘hell, what would I do in that position?’

Did you pause for thought when you first heard about the Mayan prophecies?
I was a bit nervous to be honest when I first heard about the Mayan prophecies. I’m a bit of an old hippie and I feel like anything’s possible at any time. Reality can be shocking enough and things happen all the time. I think the film is about appreciating the moment and the challenges we face – like, for instance the economic crisis we’ve been going through – hopefully it will make us appreciate the simple things and the value of relationships and the value of the people that we love.

You went straight from filming W, where you played former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, into filming 2012. Did you ever have any feedback from Condoleezza Rice after W came out?
No. But she’s joined my agency, I hear. William Morris.

So who had the best Oval Office? Was it on W or was it on the set for 2012?
That was so funny. I literally finished my last scene in W, which was with Josh Brolin in the Oval Office, and two weeks later I was on a different set for 2012, in Vancouver, on another set for the Oval Office, playing a president’s daughter.

How do you decide what roles to take?
I wouldn’t ever just want to do one kind of thing. When I was starting out, if I did a movie about say, slavery (Jefferson in Paris), I’d then get sent every slavery script going. But that doesn’t happen so much anymore. The way I work and when I work is actually more to do with being a mum than ‘what do I want to do next’? If I’ve worked on a big film, I don’t then want to go and do another big film because of the kids and school. It’s a bit boring, but that determines the job more than anything else.

Do you like watching your own movies?
If they’re good. (laughs)

And so which ones are good?
Oh, I’m not going to answer that (laughs). I mean, there are lots that I really, really like, there are some I feel didn’t work in ways that I’d hoped, but then, you never really know, you have very little control as an actor really. But there are definitely some that I prefer to others – but there are some films I like more than others in general, just not ones I’ve been in.

2012 is out November 12.

From Alive Sydney