The daughter of actor Sam Waterston, Katherine Waterston has accumulated a prestigious filmography over the past decade in her own right, working with industry heavyweights such as Martin Scorsese (“Boardwalk Empire“), Paul Thomas Anderson (“Inherent Vice“), Danny Boyle (“Steve Jobs“), Ridley Scott (“Alien: Covenant“), and Steven Soderbergh (“Logan Lucky“). Waterston’s latest film, “State Like Sleep” (our review), pairs her with relative newcomer Meredith Danluck, who made her narrative feature debut in 2013 with “North of South, West of East.” “State Like Sleep” reunites Waterston with her “The Current War” costar Michael Shannon.

In this muted noir, Waterston plays Katherine, who embarks upon a surreal quest of self-discovery as she investigates her actor husband’s double life after his suicide. Featuring absorbing characters, opulent settings, and contemplative themes of grieving loss, infidelity, identity crisis, and the dark, dangerous, and shady sides of celebrity, “State Like Sleep” is a promising continuation of Danluck’s filmmaking career and another showcase for its stars Waterston and Shannon.

Following “State Like Sleep‘s” theatrical release on January 4, I had an opportunity to speak with Waterston about her new film, working with a familiar face in Shannon, her willingness to return as Daniels in the “Alien” franchise, her excitement to begin principal photography on ‘Fantastic Beasts 3‘ this summer, her experience acting for Jonah Hill in “Mid90s,” and more.

What stood out to you about “State Like Sleep” that made you want to be a part of it?

It’s a total mystery what happens when you first read a script. Why is it that one grabs you and another doesn’t? I suppose it’s not that different from the music we love or the films that we love when we go to the cinema. One singer sounds like they’re full of shit, and you don’t believe their pain or their emotion [laughter]. And another cuts you to the quick. I was sent this script by a friend who’s not in the business, so I clicked on it thinking it probably wasn’t going to be that interesting. I went in highly suspicious. I had never heard of Meredith and I didn’t know anything about the project. And then suddenly, I was on the last page. It totally gripped me. That gets your attention when you’re reading lots of scripts. Something that reads differently from the things you normally see.

Read the rest of the interview at The Playlist.