DONNIE DARKO - JENA HOOKS INTO RECOVERING JUNKIE PAL FOR HEROIN SCENES

DONNIE DARKO star JENA MALONE was so determined to shock cinema audiences as a teen heroin addict in new movie THE UNITED STATES OF LELAND she turned to a recovering junkie pal for help.

The 19-year-old actress didn't want to glamorise heroin scenes in the film and so turned to the recuperating addict.

She says, "I wanted to make sure it was accurate and not sort of a rock 'n' roll ride. I've seen it done, and I've never done anything like that before, so I wouldn't know what's truth and what's not.

"I was sweating bullets. I had a very close friend of mine who had gone through some similar problems and has been clean for about five years now.

"He really helped me in the sense of being able to personalise the situation and seeing how this very specific drug interacted with the person.

"Then I did my own research, technically, on what this chemical does to your brain and what it does to your physical body

and your breathing. I tried to strip it down and apply it to certain things."