[The Citizen recently sat down with “World Trade Center” director Oliver Stone, star Maria Bello and John and Donna McLoughlin, whose real life experience the film was based upon. The following is a result of that conversation.]

Five years ago, Maria Bello was in New York City for a movie premiere. It was a nice September morning, and Bello had stopped at a news stand. That was all it took for Bello to know that this was not going to be just any ordinary day.

“I was at the stand, and this woman came up to me,” Bello says. “She said she hadn’t smoked for 16 years and asked if I had a cigarette. I asked why, and she said, ‘A plane just hit the World Trade Center.’ ”

Bello soon found herself involved in the events of Sept. 11. Her mother, a Pennsylvania nurse, volunteered to help survivors at St. Vincent’s hospital in Manhattan, and Bello came along.

Bello, an actress best known for her Golden Globe-nominated work in films like “The Cooler” and “A History of Violence,” drew on this experience for her performance in Oliver Stone’s new film “World Trade Center,” which opened last Wednesday.

Bello plays Donna McLoughlin, the wife of John McLoughlin (played by Nicolas Cage in the movie), a Port Authority sergeant who survived, alongside Port Authority officer Will Jimeno (played by Michael Pena), being buried under the World Trade Center’s rubble for nearly 24 hours.

Bello prepared for her role by getting to know Donna. “I went over to her house, and she was doing the dishes,” Bello says. “I started to help, and she said, ‘You’re a movie star! You shouldn’t be doing the dishes!’ ”

Her time with Donna payed off; her performance, which captures all of Donna’s strength of dignity, has already begun to garner critical praise and awards buzz. Not that Bello cares.

“I’m just proud to have been able to portray her,” she says.

Bello heard about “World Trade Center” when her agent sent her the screenplay, written by first-time scribe Andrea Berloff. Bello had an immediate emotional reaction to the script and was drawn to the project due to Stone’s involvement.

“I’ve always wanted to work with Oliver,” she says. “I admire his strength and his politics. He’s an incredibly loving human being.”

Stone too had been drawn to the project when his agent showed him the script, which he felt captured the national unity created by the Sept. 11 attacks.

“It was a horrible day,” he says, “but people reacted well. They helped each other and were strong in the face of terror.”

Stone feels that this is the right time for that message.

“A lot has happened since Sept. 11,” he says. “There’s been more war, more death, more fear. We had a feeling of unity on that day that we’ve lost since then. I hope this movie might be able to bring that back.”

“We’re way past the time [for this movie],” he continues. “Frankly, we’re too late.”

Bello echoes his sentiments.

“I think it’s important to reflect on the grace and unity of that day,” she says. “All sociological and racial boundaries were obliterated. The world came together to help us out, and that’s what our movie is about.”

The film’s focus on that unity is what got the McLoughlins and Jimenas personally involved in the project.

“It’s not just our story,” Donna McLoughlin says. “It’s not for us. It’s not the publicity. It’s about everyone there that day and the sacrifices they were willing to make. It’s a healing thing - it’s healing to see what people did to help.”

“Our main concern wasn’t getting our story right,” John McLoughlin says. “We had to honor the other people who died that day. If that wasn’t done properly, Will and I couldn’t live with ourselves.”

Despite his involvement in the film, John was still a little concerned about watching the finished project, he says.

“I was a little apprehensive, because I would have to relive what I went through,” he says. “I saw how accurate it was [on set], and I was afraid that it would remind me of what happened.”

It did remind him, but he is pleased with the results.

“Movies never get it right,” he says. “They got it right.”

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