It has been 17 years since Sarah Polley last filmed a project as an actor, and it took an unusual idea from her former collaborator Seth Rogen to lure her back

Sarah Polley returns to the set of Seth Rogen's new Apple comedy, The Studio .

Polley was a prolific child and young adult actor who made her name in both prestige projects ( 1997 ’s The Sweet Hereafter ) and genre hits (Dawn of the Dead) As her directing career took off, she happily left performing behind.

The idea of deciding to have maximum fun and surprises in a day was very new to me.

Working with Catherine O’Hara and Seth , I needed to be really porous and able to pivot and learn from them in the moment.

My favorite thing I’ve ever seen on a set was that last part, where the camera chased us down the hall.

It took about 22 takes and over two days to get the camera to land on the windshield exactly straight and then carry them in a driving shot.

I watched Seth at magic hour as we were losing the light. He’d yell “cut” and know that it was a useless take, 22 times. The third time it happened, I saw a moment where he had his hand on the car door handle, and I saw him take a breath and start laughing uncontrollably.