Because Gyllenhaal, flanked by "Source Code" co-stars Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright andMichelle Monaghan, was the man of the hour. In the film, he plays Air Force Capt. Colter Stevens, who is on a top-secret mission to save Chicago from a dirty bomb by going back in time -- via a parallel universe called the Source Code -- to discover who blew up a Chicago commuter train (the first in a series of planned terrorist attacks). As a result, he must relive the same eight minutes leading up to the bombing over and over again.

"I found it really freeing," Gyllenhaal said of the experience of acting inside a deeply warped space/time continuum. "A lot of times you stay within the structures and confines of the reality that you're aware of, and in this your imagination could run wild."

He also said that one of the fights in the movie was a real fight. "Duncan [Jones, the director] said, 'Just go for it.' " The fight he's talking about takes place on a train platform and it does look pretty raw.

Monaghan, dressed in a slim, white dress, said that acting out the same eight minutes over and over was a real challenge. But the highlight was working with her talented colleagues, especially Gyllenhaal.

"He's an amazing, seasoned pro," she said. "And he didn't disappoint. He's smart and charming and funny."

Speaking of funny, director Jones, jolly and sporting a fuzzy beard, said that everyone had an enormously good time working on the project.

"We had Jake, who has a very good sense of humor, and Russell Peters, who is obviously very funny, and Michelle Monaghan, who's a good laugh too," he said. "So we were having a lot of fun on the set."

Peters' sense of humor made a star appearance on the red carpet too. The Canadian comedian is one of the key players in the film but was not on the media tip sheet. So journalists, not immediately recognizing him, were not asking him for interviews, which was clearly driving him nuts.

"Where am I?" he asked, playfully grabbing a reporter's tip sheet and looking it over. "Nobody knows who I am! You know what I'd do? I'd go back eight minutes in time and make 'Access Hollywood' talk to me, and then I'd go back another eight minutes and put myself on this tip sheet!"

"Source Code" opens in theaters Friday