Known as the Latin bomb of French cinema, Catalina Denis makes her American debut with Brick Mansions, a bittersweet opportunity for this Colombian actress who moved to Paris to study law, because of the unexpected death of Paul Walker. Brick Mansions marks one of Walker’s last films. Denis met producer and writer Luc Besson in Paris and confessed him her dream of becoming an actress. He advised her to follow her gut. She listened and today they are both working together in this action-packed film.

Directed by Camille Delmarre, the movie is set in a future time in Detroit, where abandoned brick mansions left from better times now house only the most dangerous criminals. Unable to control the crime, the police constructed a colossal containment wall around this area to protect the rest of the city. Undercover cop Damien Collier (Paul Walker) is determined to bring his father’s killer, Tremaine (RZA) to justice and every day is a battle against corruption. For Lino (David Belle), every day is a fight to live an honest life. Their paths never should have crossed, but when Tremaine kidnaps Lino’s girlfriend, Damien reluctantly accepts the help of the fearless ex-convict, and together they must stop a sinister plot to devastate the entire city. With stylized action featuring thrilling Parkour stunts (David Belle is the co-founder of this physical training discipline), Brick Mansions puts an entertaining twist on the action genre.

Catalina previously starred in the hit French thriller “Sleepless Night” as well as the successful French comedy "Le Mac.”  In Brick Mansion she plays Lola, a girl raised in the mansions who decided to leave that world behind to study law. Circumstances brought her back to the same place she once escaped from.

We caught up with her to talk about her career, the film and her experience with Paul Walker.

Entertainment Affair: The character Lola moved out of Brick Mansions to study law.  You moved from Colombia to France to study law as well.  In what other ways can you relate to her?
Catalina Denis: Oh my God! In a lot of ways. As an actor, you sometimes feel that you are the character or the character is you. That happens to me with Lola. She wanted to do something out of her life. She didn’t want to settle. She followed her dreams and did what she wanted to do and did whatever it takes to do it, even if it means to leave your land behind, you have to do it. In the beginning, you see her being very nice and at the end, you see a different face of her. I love that. I think we are all like that. We are made of different colors. To show that was important to me, her soft, sensitive side and at the end, very strong and determined. It was exciting!

EA: This movie is a remake from the French movie Banlieue 13. Did you watch the original?
CD: I didn’t. I didn’t want to because I wanted to have my own interpretation of the character and the script. I chose not to watch it.

EA: The magic of this film comes in part with the stunts. I’ve heard you didn't use a double. How did you prepare for that?
CD: Oh my God! I didn't know what I was getting myself into to be honest (she laughs).  I didn’t know how much work was behind it. In order to get the choreography done and the physicality, you need to have energy, act, remember your lines, you need to be aware of the lights, camera. It was very complicated. I didn't know this and nobody told me, but I was surrounded by wonderful people who knew what they were doing and they taught me when to punch, how to punch. It was great, but it required a lot of preparation.

EA: How was the experience of working with a director whose background is mostly in editing like Camille Delmarre?
CD: It’s very interesting. What happens is that he sees the movie in his head. As he is shooting I felt that he was thinking of how he was going to put it together. He’s very talented. The scene in the beginning of the movie, I think is amazing.

EA: This is one of Paul Walker’s last movies. How does it make you feel?
CD: I can’t believe it. It was a very big shock. When it hit me was when I was doing an ADR with one of the scenes that I have with him and I realized I was never going to see him again. It is unbelievable. To me it was a great experience to get to know him, professionally and personally. As an actor who is beginning like me, it was great to be next to someone who knew what he was doing. He worked in every aspect of the process. With the script, he knew if a dialogue wasn’t working, why it wasn’t working and how to make it work. He was very open. What I learned from him was that the more you get involved, the more freedom you have to create a character. You are not thinking of anything else anymore and you are just thinking about the character. That was amazing. Personally, he was a great guy. He had those eyes that you felt that you could talk to him about anything without being judged or criticized. He was open for anything that you needed and that is very rare. I was sad, but I was happy that I met him.

Brick Mansions in theaters April 25, 2014.