'Ron is a director who understands actors'

Her name, pronounced “I yell it,” means “first ray of light” in Israeli. One of Israel’s acclaimed actresses, Ayelet Zurer played her first English-speaking role as the wife of Eric Bana in Munich. In Columbia Pictures’ Angels & Demons, now showing nationwide, she plays Vittoria Vetra, the beautiful and enigmatic Italian scientist who collaborates with Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) in tracing the Illuminati which is out to destroy The Vatican.        

How was Tom off and on the set?

“The same. No star complex whatsoever. We always had interesting conversation. He made sure that I was always comfortable. He’s a great man, really. I know everything that he has done in his career; I never missed any of his movies. He exceeded my expectations.”

What about director Ron Howard?

“He’s demanding and firm in the sense that he’s in control. He’s a very collaborative person and director. I saw that for myself because two weeks before we started shooting, we had rehearsals with the screenwriter. From then on, I realized that he’s a director who understands actors. He likes many takes; he creates the territory where his actors are comfortable.”

How are you similar to or different from Vittoria Vetra in terms of faith and religion?

“Well, I’m not Catholic. I was born Jewish; I’m not religious by any means but I am a person of faith, I do believe in a Supreme Being especially after I read about science and physics. Vittoria Vetra, however, is mentioned in the book to be Buddhist but we couldn’t find a place to put that in the movie, so I consider her as like Robert Langdon in some way — a person with no faith.”

What’s the best lesson that you learned from working with Tom?

“Tom has given me so many lessons that I can’t give you a quick answer; he just influenced my life in a profound way. Briefly? I understood that I could be a creative person. I sat with him in his car for a few days and he gave me a lot of pointers on how to take care of my career and how to deal with people on the set.”

Do you think Angels & Demons is anti-church?

“I don’t expect The Vatican to watch the movie not because it is against the Catholic Church or anything like that. I think the movie raises very interesting questions about the relationship between faith and the church without saying that this is wrong or that is wrong. The movie doesn’t make any judgment. It’s a nice and intelligent movie.”