Ariana DeBose talks taking on 'incredibly challenging' role in new film, 'I.S.S.'

Ariana DeBose is turning to space for her next role.

The Academy Award winning-actress, who is known for films like "West Side Story," "The Prom" and "Wish," plays Dr. Kira Foster, a scientist aboard the International Space Station, in the Gabriela Cowperthwaite-directed thriller, "I.S.S."

Things take a turn aboard the space station when conflict breaks out on Earth and Foster and her fellow U.S. and Russian astronauts and cosmonauts are left to figure out who's trustworthy and who's not.

"This was a perfect vehicle to try something new, to play a character that is so unlike me," DeBose said, speaking with "Good Morning America" about the film.

Bringing space to life on screen

The movie takes place entirely aboard the I.S.S. To bring the station to life, Cowperthwaite said that she looked to the real I.S.S. for inspiration.

"I was excited about what the real I.S.S. looks like," Cowperthwaite said. "It's messy and it's human and there's layers everywhere."

The director said she was also inspired by sci-fi and thriller films she recalled watching growing up. "I do remember sort of invoking John Carpenter's 'The Thing,' 'The Omen' -- different scenes from creepy things that I remembered from the past, from my childhood, that always kind of stuck with me," she said.

Additionally, DeBose and fellow cast members Chris Messina, John Gallagher Jr., Masha Mashkova, Costa Ronin and Pilou Asbæk did two weeks of flight training.

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"It felt a little bit like boot camp," DeBose said. "And they would put us in our harnesses and we would train. We would set up little courses for us to figure out how to navigate, because there is a technique."

How "I.S.S." made DeBose a "better actor"

For DeBose, taking on the role of Foster was a "challenge" she said she wanted to take on.

"I like being versatile. It's my favorite thing," DeBose said. "Everything about Dr. Kira Foster I found incredibly challenging because she doesn't express herself the way that I do."

"I'm outwardly very passionate, I talk with my hands a lot -- that's not who this woman is," she added. "She thinks thoughts that I couldn't even possibly come up with at the time."

DeBose said that getting to play the role of Foster in the world that Cowperthwaite created left a lasting impact on her.

"It was such a glorious journey, one that I took, by the way, before I ever won a statue," DeBose said, referring to her 2022 best actress Oscar for "West Side Story." "I made this movie well before I won any awards, and it's made me a better actor."

What DeBose and Cowperthwaite hope audiences learn from "I.S.S."

Cowperthwaite said she hopes the film can convey the impact of war, sharing, "You see six people who are all human, who all care about each other, love each other, being asked to do the unthinkable. That's war, that's conflict."

She continued, "That's what happens everyday on this planet. Being able to see the people who take the toll -- the worst toll -- of that are the little people, who take the direction from above and are asked to exact some horrific thing. [They] are people with dreams and hopes."

DeBose added that she hopes audiences "sit with" the questions that arise in the film.

"I think the film itself asks some big questions," she said. "I hope people will be inspired to go find answers so that we don't have a real life 'I.S.S.' on our hands."

"I.S.S." is out in theaters today.