Collider.com has an on-set interview of Emile, where he talks “The Darkest Hour.” Find out why he signed on for the film, about his character, the film and more.

How did you get involved with the project?
HIRSCH: Well my agent sent me the script, and he doesn’t normally send me action scripts or science fiction scripts…

Why is that?
HIRSCH: He just doesn’t. There are just not very many of them that get made, in general, where there are parts that I could play. And he didn’t tell me anything in advance; he just goes “Just let me know what you think. This is kind of insane.” I didn’t know what it was about or anything. And I just had a great time reading it. I think I enjoyed the way that the movie was kind of set in reality and used the whole idea of the electricity with the aliens and also that there was this kind of relationship with the members of the group, with Shawn and Ben, and with Shawn and Natalie, and Natalie and Ann. I just kind of liked that, you know?

Your career has taken a really kind of interesting trajectory, you have not gone after the roles that most young Hollywood actors tend to start out in. Has that been by luck? By design? What was it about this project that made you thought you might want to do something on this scale?
HIRSCH: Well, Avatar for me was a really big element in me wanting to do this film. Because I saw Avatar and it just blew my mind. I walked out of the theater after I saw it and was like, “I would really love to make a science fiction movie in 3D.” I literally said that, I was like “That’s what I want to make.” Then this script came along and I didn’t know it was going to be 3D at the time, but it still really excited me. And then I found out it would be 3D and that blew my mind. I don’t really know about like why actors choose certain roles. I just usually gravitate to stuff that I would want to watch. I think that’s probably my biggest thing.

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Emile talks about his role in “Killer Joe” with Vitamin Water at TIFF 2011