Anne Heche and Thomas Jane star in The Vanished, a white-knuckle thriller about a pair of parents who will cross any line in order to find their missing daughter. The film, written and directed by Peter Facinelli (Supergirl, Twilight), was shot in the woods of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and does a tremendous job of capturing the beauty and terror of an expansive forest, a picturesque landscape with a million hiding spots and unlimited variables that can lead to unfathomable terror.

Jane and Heche are perfectly paired in the film, and they both put on believable performances as a couple pushed past their limits in a situation that every parent spends their whole lives dreading: the mysterious disappearance of their child in a wide unknown space. The film also stars Jason Patric as the small-town sheriff investigating the case who is haunted by his own past trauma.

Related: Peter Facinelli Interview: The Vanished

While promoting The Vanished, Anne Heche and Thomas Jane spoke to Screen Rant about their work on the film, from their working relationship with Peter Facinelli to how the indie nature of the production brought the real-life couple even closer together.

The Vanished is out now in theaters, on Digital, and VOD.

Thomas Jane and Anne Heche in The Vanished

Anne Heche: How are ya?

I'm doing great, and I'm doing a lot better right now with you guys!

Anne Heche: Are you in bed?

It looks like... It's a couch and I'm on the floor, but it looks like a bed. The lighting is better this way.

Anne Heche: You look good, your face looks good! Yes, very sexy.

Thank you! Well, this movie is so intense, and I'm so glad I get to talk to you, and I got to talk to Peter the other day.

Anne Heche: Cool!

Thomas Jane: Good.

I'm wondering, if it's just the perception of someone on the outside, or is there a different energy to being directed by an actor? Do they let you run with your instincts? Or is that just something that we imagine?

Thomas Jane: That's an interesting question.

Anne Heche: Take it away!

Thomas Jane: Being directed by an actor, interesting. I think... Actually, I was directed by her. Anne and me created the roles that we did. And we essentially created something that Peter had written, but the way we interpreted it was...

Thomas Jane and Anne Heche The Vanished

Anne Heche: Give the flip side. There are two sides to this couple. And one of those sides, nobody knows. So the interpretation of that bond of what it is, Thomas and I needed to agree to very strictly. Because it took the work the night before and every single line has two perspectives and must be stated with the exact truth, so if you go to the end of the movie and go back and look at it again, it's an exactly different movie.

Thomas Jane: Once you realize the truth...

Anne Heche: That takes a commitment, and an agreement.

Thomas Jane: And we had to sit Peter down and, you know, Anne came in with this interpretation of the script that Peter had written. And Peter, to his credit, agreed to interpret the film in a way that we...

Anne Heche: That it would work!

Thomas Jane: Yeah.

Anne Heche: And it took some jiggering, because that wasn't what either one of them were expecting.

Thomas Jane: But working with an actor as a director? I don't know... I'd rather just work with a director.

Anne Heche: Well, you just directed me, and I like you as an actor, and I like you directing me.

Thomas Jane: That's true, we just did a sex comedy.

Anne Heche: That's what we did during the...

Thomas Jane: We shot it at our house, so you'll be able to see that soon.

Awesome, I can't wait!

Anne Heche: (Laughs)

Thomas Jane and Anne Heche and Jason Patric in The Vanished

You two are a team in the movie, for better and for worse, not spoiling anything. This is an indie movie, you don't have Marvel money...

Anne Heche: You can say that again! We didn't even have bathrooms our outhouses!

Thomas Jane: Or trailers!

Anne Heche: We got very familiar with the woods.

Thomas Jane: No dressing rooms, nothing.

Anne Heche: Indie!

Right, so you're not heading off in between takes, you're intermingling, you're shooting the breeze. What do you do in between takes, what is your chill?

Anne Heche: Work it. How can we do it better? What's going on? What are we saying? This is craft. This is probably the most crafted performance, I think, in a completely different way than we had done before. Every single scene was a puzzle of understanding how to get two perspectives truthful.

You're in the woods. Do you get the time to appreciate that setting, especially in hindsight, considering we're all trapped in our apartments right now?

Anne Heche: We loved it.

Thomas Jane: We shot in Alabama, beautiful, gorgeous. Tuscaloosa.

Anne Heche: But that location, that lake, we spent a lot of time staring out at that lake. What are we doing next? What's the next scene? How are we going to make it work? But it was beautiful.

Thomas Jane: We didn't have trailers or dressing rooms, we were sitting in our own trash, but the lake was beautiful.

Anne Heche: It had its effect on both of us, clearly.

Ooh!

Anne Heche and Thomas Jane in The Vanished

Anne Heche: We spent a lot of time staring at each other, and we still do.

Thomas Jane: Right!

Well, that's great. Thank you so much for your time, thanks for the movie, it's fantastic, and I hope to interview you from this location again, at some point!

Thomas Jane: Great!

Anne Heche: We hope so!

Next: Writer/Director Richard Tanne Interview: Chemical Hearts

The Vanished is out now in theaters, on Digital, and VOD.