Starring in the drama opposite Meg Ryan and Kristen Stewart

Adam Brody has moved on from The O.C.; after four years on the hit Fox drama, he's taking his career to the big screen.

His newest is the drama, In the Land of Women. After his girlfriend breaks up with him, he decides to take a little break from Los Angeles and move to Michigan to spend time with his grandmother (Olympia Dukakis). He discovers a whole new life for himself when he meets her neighbors, Meg Ryan and daughter Kristen Stewart.

From writer/director Jonathan Kasdan - yep, son of Lawrence and brother of Jake - comes a sweet and touching drama about finding yourself.

Adam spoke with Movieweb.com about the film; here's what he had to say:

How did you come to the project?{@@@newline@@@}{@@@newline@@@}Adam Brody: The old-fashioned way, my agent sent the script to me and it worked out nicely. I read it and, it was funny; I hadn't read the script yet and my agent called me and said 'the script's really good' and I went to The Coffee Bean - this was three years ago now, I went to The Coffee Bean to get coffee and Jon, who I did not know yet, was meeting an actress there who I knew so I bumped into her, we said hello and she introduced me to Jon and he said, 'Hey, I think I'm meeting you in a couple of days.' I'm like, 'Oh, I heard about it; I can't wait to read it. We should just meet here in a couple of days.' I went home and I read it and it was fantastic; I was in from the first page. I knew I would do it if he would have me. We met in the same spot a couple of days later in the evening and he came in and he's like, 'Let's just go to a bar. I said, 'Alright.' So we went and got a drink and he gave me the part right away; it worked out great. It was a breeze; it was the easiest job I've ever gotten in terms of I didn't have to do anything. I just had to read it; I really lucked out.

Have you ever had a family member embarrass you like the grandma does in this film?{@@@newline@@@}{@@@newline@@@}Adam Brody: Yeah, I had my dad embarrass me horribly, the worst mistake I ever did; this was five years ago or maybe more. My dad was in town and I had an audition and I said, 'Why don't you just come with me? I've got to do this thing and then we'll get a bite to eat.' I was in an audition where there was a mix and match with girls so you read with them. I was reading with this really cute girl. My dad thinks he's funny; I think he's funny in the sense of how not funny he is - I'm not just saying that to be a dick, his jokes are bad. We did the audition and it was fine and we were leaving and I said, 'I think I want to ask for her number so could you go get the car and I'll meet you there in a minute.' She came out and I started talking to her and my dad pulls up in the car and honks the horn and rolls down the window and gives me the thumbs up; I was truly pissed. In hindsight, it's funny but at the time, he said 'Give me a break, she thought it was funny, common.' I'm like 'It wasn't, man; you really blew it for me. It's not funny.'

So did you get her number?{@@@newline@@@}{@@@newline@@@}Adam Brody: I did but I don't think she called me back.

Do you miss the long hours of TV?{@@@newline@@@}{@@@newline@@@}Adam Brody: No, I certainly don't - not when I'm sitting in the backyard on Monday morning thinking, 'Wow, I could be in the Cohen kitchen for six hours right now.' No, I don't.

Are you reading lots of scripts?{@@@newline@@@}{@@@newline@@@}Adam Brody: Yeah, of course; I read them too quick. My agent will call me about a script and it won't get to me for like two days and I call him, 'Just send it to me, I'll read it. I'll get right back to you but, I'm excited, common!' But yeah, absolutely; I wish I could say I was reading tons but I just read what comes my way.

Are there women in your life who have inspired you?{@@@newline@@@}{@@@newline@@@}Adam Brody: Yeah, I think every relationship I've ever been in has been ultimately a good thing and was really a learning experience; I don't have any horror stories there. I think my mom is fantastic; she's a really great person and she instilled in us, if nothing else, compassion.

What was it like working with Jon as a first-time director?{@@@newline@@@}{@@@newline@@@}Adam Brody: Jon's fantastic, you would never, ever know it on set; I can't believe he hasn't directed a short film. Granted, the household he grew up in is certainly well-versed in film but still, and he wrote it but, it's not just in the story, in the shooting, for a guy who's never shot anything, he sure knows a lot about DP's and lenses and texture and color strips and film stock. It may have been his first thing but he's absolutely a veteran.

How is he to work with for an actor?{@@@newline@@@}{@@@newline@@@}Adam Brody: He's great; he's also a good actor. He was giving me some line readings and do it better than I can do it. Also, the script is really personal to him in more helpful ways; it's not autobiographical, the story but almost anything anyone says in this movie is either from Jon's life or from someone very close to him. You ask him why a comma is here and he can tell you the personal story; that was actually very helpful in terms of motivation.

You're a California boy, so would you want to write a story about your high school experience? Would it be anything like the mid-West experience?{@@@newline@@@}{@@@newline@@@}Adam Brody: No, I think that's what Jon's fascination is with that high school experience, and mine, growing up out here. I grew up in a typical high school, but I spent most of my high school actually at the beach, which the majority of my high school didn't; I sort of checked out, socially, around high school. I was reminiscing with a friend the other day and, as a result, the beach was its own high school; everyone had their local beach and a bunch of the surfers from different high schools would go there. As a result, a lot of my high school friends were completely different ages and went to different high schools. And then, I'm friends with a few random bums, who are really crazy people; we still talk about the local bum.

Did you have a Big Kahuna on your beach?{@@@newline@@@}{@@@newline@@@}Adam Brody: Sort of, yeah; his name was Emmett. He was a really sweet guy, and he never wore a wet suit; it was mind-blowing in the winter. If I did write a true movie about my youth, it would heavily involve the beach. I don't know what that is, emotionally; I just know the setting. It's weird how similar Jon and I are in this; John went to Crossroads out here, which is not a typical high school experience either, and Carter is very clearly describing that school in the movie. He has this fascination with the high school of John Hughes, and so do I; I have that fascination with the east coast too, and foliage, and all of that, in this idyllic suburb that I've never exactly been to, but I'm pretty sure maybe exists.

Did you have any influence on the music in the film?{@@@newline@@@}{@@@newline@@@}Adam Brody: Just barely - Jon, obviously, had his opinions and songs picked out; we had a great music supervisor on this movie that does all of John's brother's movies, too. At the end of the day, I weighed in as heavily as I could and I think I got a few songs in there, but I'm really happy with the soundtrack, actually. I think it's cool. I think it's also underrated, in the sense that no one's talking about it, no one's selling it. I mean, somebody is selling it, but it's not a big part of this movie, and I actually think it's a really good soundtrack that is hand-picked. It doesn't feel like a studio soundtrack; it's very much a personal reflection of everyone's tastes that made the movie.

How was working with Meg Ryan?{@@@newline@@@}{@@@newline@@@}Adam Brody: It was great; she's really good in the movie, I think. It was nice to do a classic romantic comedy walk-and-talk with Meg Ryan, which is sort of her staple. It was nice; I felt like I was doing a piece of classic cinema. I don't mean the thing will live on, but the Meg Ryan walk-and-talk is a big deal for me.

Was it fun to work with Kristen Stewart?{@@@newline@@@}{@@@newline@@@}Adam Brody: Yeah, she's great; it absolutely was, she's a fantastic actress.

Are you the kind of guy that girlfriends would come to for advice?{@@@newline@@@}{@@@newline@@@}Adam Brody: I think I'm good at that stuff, absolutely; I think I'm a fairly good communicator, and I can offer some good relationship advice, when asked, I believe. I don't have a lot of high drama friends, so no one's ever running to me; if you keep needing to ask for advice a lot, then something's probably not working.

Were you comfortable with this role then?{@@@newline@@@}{@@@newline@@@}Adam Brody: Yeah, very much so, completely; it was sort of a natural fit. I felt like I got the voice very easy.

Adam's role in this film is completely natural. In the Land of Women opens April 20th; it's rated PG-13.