SODERBERGH: Do you think that your parents have ever read Interview?

MARA: Yes, I am quite sure that they have.

SODERBERGH: Let’s talk about politics. Do you get to keep all those dresses you wear to awards shows?

MARA: No, none of them.

SODERBERGH: Really? Then what’s the point? They don’t give you anything? You’re helping them!

MARA: I didn’t say that they don’t give me anything— I said that I don’t get to keep the dresses that I wear to award shows. Getting to wear the dress in the first place is something, though, isn’t it?

SODERBERGH: I suppose. Let’s move on and talk about sex. Some of these camera apps are amazing. Do you have any apps you like?

MARA: I only just got an iPhone two weeks ago. I hate it. Sorry, Apple. I love Mac products—I love them— but I can’t type on the iPhone, so now I just don’t respond to people. The camera is amazing, though. No denying that.

SODERBERGH: I think that if a man is in a restaurant where someone brings him his food, then he should not wear a hat. What do you think?

MARA: You’ve told me this before. I think that’s a pretty good rule of thumb. But what about a beanie? What if it’s outdoor seating?

SODERBERGH: Only if he’s bald . . . Do you keep a journal?

MARA: No, and any journal I might have kept in the past I ripped up and threw away the day I met you.

SODERBERGH: Smart. What other paying jobs have you had?

MARA: I was a babysitter/nanny and a camp counselor. One summer, me and my best friend answered the phones at her dad’s office, but we laughed every time we picked up the phone so they moved us to the shipping department.

SODERBERGH: Everyone says my best quality is my humility. What’s yours?

MARA: My feet. Definitely.

SODERBERGH: Again with the feet! When you’re not shooting, what kind of hours do you keep?

MARA: That’s too revealing.

SODERBERGH: More revealing than that thing about not keeping the dresses? If everything you’ve texted in the last 24 hours were to be posted publicly, would you get in trouble?

MARA: Yes.

SODERBERGH: Are you as paranoid as you seem?

MARA: More so.

SODERBERGH: Last question: Me and Fincher both offer you a movie, and you have a gun with one bullet in it. Which one of us do you shoot?

MARA: I would put the gun down and run—very, very fast.

STEVEN SODERBERGH IS AN ACADEMY AWARDÂ? WINNING DIRECTOR. HIS LATEST FILM, BEHIND THE CANDELABRA, A BIOPIC OF LIBERACE, WILL AIR ON HBO THIS SPRING.