Jill Johnson, the main character in the remake of “When a Stranger Calls,” is alone for much of the movie. An unassuming babysitter terrorized by a maniacal caller, her main co-star is a telephone and she has to be both a victim and eventually a hero.

“Tons of girls I saw were just irritating to be with for that amount of time, or they were grown up — they were 16 or 18, but they could have been 25 or 30 and were so worldly that they’d have been training in armed combat and probably kill the guy,” says director Simon West of his difficult casting chore. “Or they were just too wise beyond their years. I was looking for somebody who had the vulnerability and a child-like sweetness, so you were rooting for her more when she had to fight for her life.”

Watching the indies “The Ballad of Jack and Rose” and “The Chumscrubber,” West became certain that then-18-year-old Camilla Belle was his Jill. His presumptive leading lady was less convinced.

“I was like, ‘No, I don’t want to do a horror movie, not my thing,”‘ Belle recalls. “My agent was like, ‘Just go meet with Simon, talk with him, let him talk to you about it. It’s a little different than what you think it’s going to be.”‘

West wooed his leading lady with promises that his vision for “Stranger” was less exploitative and more like the Audrey Hepburn classic “Wait Until Dark.” Of course, just because the “Con Air” helmer was confident in Belle’s acting ability didn’t prevent him from putting her on a strict training regiment.

“Jill’s a sprinter and I had never set foot on a track before in my life,” Belle explains. “I dance. I’m not an athlete in that way. Simon wanted me to bulk up a bit and get some muscle and have a more athletic body.”

In addition, Belle had to learn to handle the kind of stuntwork she’d never experienced on her more Sundance-friendly projects. In order to protect her charges, this babysitter has to take a beating.

“My mom would not let me wear skirts when we went out together, she’s like ‘They’re going to think I beat you up,”‘ Belle laughs. “I had welts all down my legs … It was very painful. I have a couple scars here and there, but I wore them with pride. It was really fun.”

Belle is pleased with the next experiences of working on a studio film and enthusiastic that she’s finally made a movie her friends will be able to see at the local multiplex, but she hasn’t learned to love the genre.

“I just get scared really easily. I’m watching myself on screen and I know everything that’s happening, I know every shot and I’m still scared … I don’t like being scared … A lot of people kind of get a rush off of that. I don’t.”

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page B2.

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