Rooney Mara stars as Ruth in the new drama Ain’t Them Bodies Saints. Outlaw couple Ruth and Bob (Casey Affleck) are apprehended by lawmen after a shootout in which Ruth kills a man. When Bob takes the blame and is sent to prison, the pregnant Ruth is left to take care of her family all on her own.

Mara felt her scenes with Affleck were pivotal to the production. “They were really important days for me because, you know, I have to spend the rest of the movie pining for him,” Mara told Uinterview exclusively. “The little bit of screen time we get to share together is really important cause you have to kind of believe it enough so that it can carry that rest of the film.”

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Q: Ruth has two love interests, Bob and Patrick. Which one is better suited for her? - Uinterview

Well, I don't think –I don't think of the movie as a love triangle between those people. I don’t really think — you know I think she, Ruth wishes she could be with someone like Patrick. I think that she wants to want to be with someone like Patrick because her life would be easier but I don't think there’s really a question — I think… she has wanted to be with Bob since she was little and I think she's a part of her will always want to be with him. I think it's more of she wishes she could be with someone like Patrick, it would make life so much better, so much easier.

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Q: What’s the key to understanding your character Ruth? - Uinterview

I don’t know if there is a key to understanding her. I mean I think she’s —well, I don’t know if she’s a complicated character, but her life is very complicated, you know, I think she has these two dueling love stories going on the love story she has with Bob, and then the love story she has with her child. There’s a lot of guilt going on, there’s a lot of you know questions of responsibility. You know, her life is very complicated right when the film picks up.

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Q: Did you draw from any of your own struggles to play this role? - Uinterview

I mean, yeah, certainly I mean I don’t have anything specific to share, but of course. You know, I think everyone at some point has to deal with responsibility and growing up and or guilt and choosing between what you want and what’s right. You know, I think everyone has something like that to draw from.

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Q: Is there one scene that’s most memorable for you? - Uinterview

No, I don’t have one scene that’s my favorite, you know, the scenes that Casey and I got to work together which was only a few days were — those were my first days of shooting and his last days of shooting. Those were, I think, the most intense scenes you know the shootouts happen, there’s a lot of intense stuff that happens whenever we’re actually working together. They were really important days for me because, you know, I have to spend the rest of the movie pining for him and the little bit of screen time we get to share together is really important 'cause you have to kind of believe it enough so that it can carry that rest of the film. So those scenes were really fun to make but also really intense and memorable for me.