For Oscar nominated actress Rachel Griffiths, the role of Pamela Drury was the perfect follow-up after playing the role of Hilary du PrÈ in the film Hilary and Jackie.

"It is great to have ME MYSELF I coming out after Hilary and Jackie because in that I am so intense, and Pamela is so much more about being charming and light. I tried very hard not to be too intense in ME MYSELF I, it would have dragged the film into another genre," the Sydney-based actress said. For her first major role in a romantic comedy, Rachel studied the genre thoroughly: "I watched a lot of Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan films, and a lot of Julia Roberts films. Those actors are the masters of walking the line between making you laugh and making you feel something and that was one of the challenges for me as Pamela."

"It's fun and it's a good line to treadÖyou have to really trust the director, and of course I could do that with Pip," Rachel said.

When Rachel first read the script for ME MYSELF I, she loved it: "I thought it was really great, and a very well resolved script that had a lot of detail and texture to it. I kind of related to the thirty-something thing but I was actually more interested in how funny and sweet and surprising and well-thought out and charming it was."

"Stylistically, I could see that it would be a great movie. It was so well written. And I think we can all relate to the idea that there are major turning points in our lives, and everybody does have one point in their life that is like a fork in the road and every now and then they might wonder, what ifÖ"

And as for Pamela's character: "I just loved how human Pamela is. She was really identifiable, a bit of a grot, a bit of a pig. She can be really self-pitying in an endearing way, she's a bit of a klutz, she's really smart and successful at her job but she doesn't really feel successful as a human being. She's got all these awards and all this success, but she wonders what it means if she hasn't got anyone to share it with," Rachel said.

While she also had to play Pamela Two in a lesser role, Rachel said the most challenging part of making ME MYSELF I was not so much playing two people, but playing two people in one frame.

"Definitely the hardest part for me was working with motion control and trying to work out how to act opposite myself," Rachel said. "I'm a very responsive actor and I work best opposite really good people and I've been really lucky working with people like Emily Watson, Toni Collette, Om Puri, Pete Postlethwaite, Ben Mendelsohn and most recently David Roberts and Sandy Winton.

"We had to get a really good actor to play opposite me behind camera, and we found Elizabeth Kenneally who won Best Actress at Tropfest last year and I really could not have done it without her. So that was a challenge, but then Parent Trap was one of my favorite films as a child, so this was like a grown-up version!"

While she watched a lot of romantic comedies to get into the mood for ME MYSELF I, Rachel also went into physical and mental training in the lead-up to the rigorous shooting schedule of the film. With only three scenes in the movie in which she does not appear, every day of the 45-day shoot demanded her full and unrelenting attention and concentration.

"It was like training for a marathon. I knew physically I had to stay more positive than I ever had done on any other film in order to be light and funny," Rachel said. "I knew that if I lost my confidence I wouldn't be funny, so I had six weeks of going to the gym to stay strong."

"And I think," she said, "with the incredible support of a fantastic director, cast and crew, I managed to stay on top of it."