Actresses Uma Thurman and Evan Rachel Wood sauntered down the red carpet at
the New York premiere for their latest film. The movie touches on a life cut
short by a tragic event and explores a life that could have been.

 NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (APRIL 15, 2008) REUTERS Actresses Uma Thurman, Evan Rachel Wood and Eva Amurri walked down
the red carpet of the New York premiere of their latest film on Tuesday (April
15). The movie titled "The Life Before Her Eyes" is about two
teenage friends who are forced to make a painful choice when a gunman at their
high school confronts them in the bathroom. 15 years later, one of the girls
grapples with the consequences of that day on the anniversary of the shooting.

   Thurman, who plays the older version of "Diana", said she was
instantly drawn to the story because she liked the script.  "I was so
much reminded of how difficult and lonely it was to be a teenager and that
experience. At the same time the sort of shocking thing about random chaotic
violence can do to our lives and I don't know, it was very moving, I
thought," she said.
    Evan Rachel Wood, who plays the 17-year-old "Diana" turned
down several other parts just to be free to take on the role.  She said she
could relate a lot to her character in the film. "Everybody kind of wants
to label her as this rebellious, bad girl and she's not. She's just different
and they don't really understand her and she's kind of tortured by it but she
still isn't going to let it stop her," she said.
    Playing Wood's best friend is Eva Amurri, the yang to Wood's yin. Her
character "Maureen" goes to Church and has dreams of getting married
and settling into her hometown. The role was not an obvious choice for Amurri
who has nothing in common with her character, she said.
    "I mean, I thought God what a challenge, especially from the work
I had been doing at the time to play a character who was this different from
myself and everything I'd done. It was a great opportunity to challenge
myself," said Amurri.
    The movie has a dreamy, ethereal feel with beautfifully shot scenes
that allude to the fragility of life. The screenplay was adapted from a novel
written by Laura Kasischke. 
    "Laura who is the author of the book - she used to be a poet. So
what she did is she really imbued the book with a lot of visual imagery and
beauty and all I did was just translate it to the screen," said the
film's director Vadim Perelman.
    The movie hits theatres April 18.