The cast of King Kong has been on a whirl-wind promotion tour, already having visited New York and Berlin this past week before arriving in London for the UK premiere. So it's no surprise they all looked slightly exhausted as they strolled up the red carpet to grant yet another round of press interviews. But, fortunately, they still graciously stopped to chat with 6 Degrees Film.

Animation legend Ray Harryhausen, still energetic at 85 years old, literally brought some of the magic of the first King Kong to the new film's premiere: "I was at the original Graumann's Chinese Theatre in LA in 1933 when the first Kong came out so I'm here to see how far we've come. I'm expecting something really spectacular and wonderful."

From the new film, Thomas Kretschmann, who plays Captain Englehorn of the Venture commented "Of course, every actor wants to work with Peter Jackson . You'll do whatever he wants, whatever part it is... Especially a film like this " it's a classic and this is going to be a classic. This is the film usually the other actors do, not yourself," he laughed, obviously thrilled to be a part of the project. I wanted to know what the biggest challenge was for him in this role: "You know there's certain pressure you put on yourself, entering a project like this. It's like a child, when you walk down and come to a new class. So just to get relaxed and start working was the biggest challenge!" How about the technical challenges of performing opposite CGI creatures and in front of a blue screen? "It sounds more difficult than it is. But we had great help. We had Andy Serkis, who was awesome, and he's a genius himself. And then we had Peter with a megaphone screaming 'Look over there, run, look there.' So you do different takes and give him different options and then he cuts it together."

Naomi Watts echoed the same sentiment when I asked her about the challenges of performing several scenes with just the CGI Kong: "Actually, it was less difficult than you would think. Andy Serkis is so brilliant and has done so much homework that he's able to take you to a place of truth. All of our scenes together were very connected and I felt really quite good about that. The other stuff with the dinosaurs and bugs and weird things like that were much more challenging." Naomi also had the opportunity to meet the legendary Fay Wray, who first played Ann Darrow in the 1933 King Kong "She made this role iconic and she was in this legendary film with such a powerful story so I needed her permission in some sort of weird way¦she gave me her blessing and I felt she'd passed the baton over and the role was mine now and I must make of it as much as I can."

Adrien Brody's character, Jack Driscoll, has changed the most from the original film. After his Oscar winning role in The Pianist, I asked him how he enjoyed such a huge change performing in this action-adventure epic: "I like to keep it interesting, I really just enjoy the process and learning new techniques, and the effects realm was very new to me. But I've always wanted to find a romantic leading man character and reluctant hero and I, remarkably, found this¦ It was a wonderful opportunity for me. It's Peter's dream and Peter needed to fulfill his dream."

Jamie Bell, portraying the young stowaway with a mysterious past Jimmy, also felt inspired by Peter's longtime goal of making King Kong: "When [Peter] comes to you and says, 'I wanted to make this film from nine years old, I first made it when I was 13 with my mother's bed sheets,' it says something about a filmmaker. When he tells you his inspiring story you can't help but be inspired yourself. It's an amazing project to be involved in." And, like Kretschmann, the thrill of working with Peter Jackson only added to the excitement of being involved in this film: "I think Peter Jackson's the best director working out there at the moment. I was really excited to be working with him."

We also had the chance to speak with King Kong himself, Andy Serkis and asked him about his role as Gollum versus Kong? "They've both been huge acting challenges over the last four or five years. Gollum I'm particularly attached to because he's so devious and paranoid and schizophrenic and, you know, he represents one part of my personality! And then Kong is quite true-hearted and quite an honest character so that represents another part of my personality. The fact is they're both great characters¦ Gollum's face was actually designed around my facial structure whereas Kong is obviously a gorilla's face. When I watch Kong, though, I can actually see the choices in the acting that I've made. And that's really quite satisfying to see. If Kong's laughing or smiling or being a bit petulant I can see myself doing those." Serkis does finally have the chance to see himself on film as Lumpy the Cook, which he played in addition to King Kong. But his heart certainly lies more with the gorilla, "I think one of my favorite scenes is the lair scene where Kong has fought T-Rexes and protected Ann and takes her back to his place. And it's the first time back at his flat, and he's a little uneasy, but eventually there's a moment where they really get to bond for the first time."

Worn out by the hectic schedule, Jack Black didn't give any press interviews, but instead he went out on the balcony above the cinema to sing to the crowd. And, unfortunately, Peter Jackson himself managed to skip the press line " which, I have to admit, seeing how exhausted he looked I couldn't blame him!

Overall, the cast was thrilled to be part of this exciting new film, and after seeing it for myself, it's easy to see why.