Shutter is the latest Asian horror film to get the Hollywood treatment. Much like the identically named 2004 creepfest out of Thailand, Shutter follows a young couple as they contend with the vengeful spirits that turn up in their photographs. In the remake, Joshua Jackson (the upcoming TV series Fringe) and Rachael Taylor (Transformers) play the couple and the story unfolds in Japan.

The new film, set for release on March 21, co-stars James Kyson Lee of Heroes and John Hensley from Nip/Tuck. SCI FI Weekly recently caught up with Taylor at Wondercon and spoke to Lee by telephone as they previewed Shutter and spoke about other projects as well. (With additional reporting by Patrick Lee)James Kyson Lee, how familiar, or not, were you with the original version of Shutter?

Lee: I had not seen the original version of Shutter. I wanted to wait until we were done with our filming, just because I didn't want to be affected by the performances. But I knew it was a cult favorite, and I knew the movie we were making was going to try to honor the essence of it in a lot of ways. I [eventually] saw the original, and it's good. It has that Eastern horror style where they play around with the unseen, what they have seen, and you definitely feel that style in our version as well. Another thing I saw in the original version was that the characters made a very stark choice at the beginning of the film and the consequences really haunted them as the movie continued. In our version, the choices that the characters make are more relatable, meaning they're not so black and white. It's more of a gray area, and you can't really say who is at fault one way or the other from the beginning.Give us a sense of your character, Ritsuo.

Lee: Ritsuo is a young editor at a place called Ghost Magazine, and they specialize in spirit photography. So when Benjamin and Jane start experiencing these supernatural occurrences through their pictures, Jane comes to see me to find out a little bit more about what's going on. So I dive into the origin and the history and the significance of some of the things she's experiencing. I did a lot of research about spirit photography back in L.A., and it's something that's been around for over 250 years.The writers' strike brought about an early end to season two of Heroes, a season that wasn't as well regarded by fans and critics as the breakthrough first year. What were your thoughts on the show's sophomore season?

Lee: Season two was very interesting because they experimented with some stuff. I give them a lot of credit for being able to think outside the box and having the courage to explore different areas and not just regurgitate the same formula, if you will, because it was so successful. We're also dealing with the higher level of expectations now to continue the strides that we were making. But I feel like towards the end we were really getting back on track and the pace was really picking up. As some of the storylines were wrapping up, there were some really interesting doors opening to create new storyline and new frontiers. We had to go on a little bit of a hiatus because of the strike, but I think, if anything, that gave the writers and the team a chance to step back and re-plan and reorganize. I know they have a lot of great ideas that they're excited about. What's your sense of Ando? Is he OK not having powers? Is it enough for him to be Hiro's [Masi Oka] friend and ally?

Lee: I like the fact that Ando is a mortal. I think that his power is one that is accessible to us as the viewers, as human beings. He's got the power of character, of loyalty and friendship. These are all qualities we can relate to, because in real life none of us fly around or regenerate like Claire. I think it's important to have a few characters that are mortal, because otherwise the whole we're in starts to lose its grounding, and the next thing you know everyone and their grandmas and their dogs are flying around. I think it would start to escape our grasp. There are definitely stories that are out there, that are like that, and that's fine, but I think our show really blends the superhero elements with reality. What haven't you played yet as Ando that you're looking forward to?

Lee: We don't know a lot about Ando's background. We have met a lot of Hiro's family members, but we don't know about Ando's family. I also think there are some interesting relationships they could explore through Ando, especially romantic ones. He's such a fan of romance and women that I think that would be an interesting venue. Ando could have a girlfriend, but would she be from Japan or the States? I'd love to see him being a little bit more in the action. We saw some of that when he tried to mix it up with Sylar, and he was definitely overpowered. But as he grows into his own kind of hero, maybe we could see more of that. I'm a pretty action-oriented guy, and I've done action films, so I could see Ando getting into that more.Rachael Taylor, how would you describe your character in Shutter?

Taylor: I play a girl called Jane, who, in a lot of ways, is a very sweet, obviously special in her own way, but unique kind of girl. And she's just been married to a man that she absolutely adores, and she has to move to Tokyo for his job; he's a photographer. The first couple of weeks that they're there, actually when they're going up to Mount Fuji for their honeymoon, she thinks that she's had a horrific accident on the road, and she thinks that she's murdered a Japanese girl. And of course, then it comes into question whether or not she hallucinated or whether it actually happened, and no one else believes her, but from that moment on, a series of supernatural events kind of continue to occur, specifically this bizarre incarnation that keeps appearing in photographs they take. And she kind of then goes on her own little mission to figure out what's really going on and makes some fairly distressing discoveries at the end of the movie.How closely does the remake track the original Thai film, and how much is it different and Americanized?

Taylor: I think it's respectful of the Thai film. I am a big fan; it's why I wanted to do this movie in a lot of ways, because I adored the original film. And at the same time I'm also kind of respectful that it's tricky to do a remake of a film, and we've remade, Hollywood's remade, Asian horror movies to varying success. But I felt that this was, you know, it had a significantly different enough perspective that it was worth remaking. Like the original film was very much ... actually it's told from the guy's point of view, I think, about his path and the mysteries that have gone on behind him, whereas this film has a much more driven kind of thrust to it. It's really more her story, about her figuring out what's really going on around her. So it's kind of a more proactive tale, I guess, but at the same time, I mean the vibe of it's the same, and the aesthetic's the same too, which is great, because the original film was beautiful.What have you heard about the Transformers sequel?

Taylor: I've heard that they're doing one, I think. I don't think I'm going to be doing it, which doesn't surprise me, because I would love to see how they could have justified an Australian computer data analyst being in the second one. I think that would be a really tricky thing. But I hope they do. I hope they remake it. I would love to see another group of actors take on the franchise and redo it again. I was really impressed by the first one. I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did. And everyone continues to be really enthusiastic about it, and it's kind of a treat, you know? I felt my part in it was obviously a supporting role, and I'm under no illusion that I was critical to the project, but it was a pleasure to be a part of it. It would be nice to see a bunch of other people take it on again. Maybe I will do it. I don't know. Maybe they will figure out a way that I could do it, somehow.Do you believe in ghosts?

Taylor: I'm not sure I believe in the literal incarnation of, you know, a figure from the afterlife. I'm not sure I believe in the traditional idea of, like, a creepy old lady on the stairs. But sort of similar to the character in the film, I believe that emotional energy can have a residue, and that that residue can kind of appear in different forms, like if it's in a photograph, or even just energetically. When you walk into a house—and it sounds like hairy-fairy, hippie-tippy BS—but you know when you walk into an environment where you're like, "Something's gone on here." Or you know when you walk into a place that's got a really great energy to it, you're like, "There's some sort of beautiful effervescence or something to this space, and that's got to come from somewhere." Everything has their stories, and pictures have their stories too; photographs have a story behind the story, and that's kind of what [Shutter] is about.Do scary movies still scare you?

Taylor: Well, I love scary movies, and I love genre movies, and my parents were very liberal in letting me watch kind of whatever I wanted, which may have been a mistake. I saw Silence of the Lambs when I was something like 8 years old or something horrendous; my parents should be knocked out for that. But I was also very terrified by it for some reason. I've gone back and looked at it recently, and it was less scary now, but I think it's the idea of what's really scary is what you can't see, and that was what was scary about it, and kind of what's scary about this movie, too. It's more about the suggestion of something sinister than it is about something sinister itself. I loved Silence of the Lambs. I loved it. I went and saw Saw at the cinemas, and I passed out. Seriously. I walked out into the sunlight, and it was just like there'd been blood and there was distressing stuff going on, and I fainted. But I'm a fainter anyway. But I still ... I continue to love them. I recently saw The Orphanage, which I loved. It was phenomenal. It was such a great film, beautiful and emotional as well, but that was creepy.