What do you get when you cross an international cast of stars (most of whom are Oscar winners), a story about an Italian filmmaker who’s in a creative rut, and the women who’ve had the most influence his life? You get the movie musical "Nine," one of the most star-studded musicals to come along in years. "Nine" is based on the stage musical of the same title, which was inspired by Federico Fellini’s 1963 movie "8 1/2."

The all-star lineup for "Nine" the movie includes Daniel Day-Lewis, Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson, Penélope Cruz, Sophia Loren, Fergie, Marion Cotillard and Judi Dench. In "Nine." Day-Lewis is Guido Contini, a celebrated Italian filmmaker who’s under pressure to deliver his next movie. The problem is that he has writer’s block and doesn’t have a script, even though he’s soon expected to start his next film.

Guido is also having issues in his personal life, as he deals with conflicting emotions about women from his past and present: his long-suffering wife, Luisa (played by Cotillard); his demanding mistress Carla (played by Cruz); his costume designer/longtime confidante, Lilli (played by Dench); his actress muse Claudia Jenssen (played by Kidman); a star-struck Vogue magazine writer named Stephanie (played by Hudson); a prostitute from his childhood named Saraghina (played by Fergie); and his late mother (played by Loren). Kidman, Hudson, Cruz and Loren recently gathered for a press conference in New York City, where they talked about what it was like working with Method actor Day-Lewis, the fabulous fashion in "Nine," and why "Nine" director Rob Marshall is a rarity in filmmaking.

Kate, can you talk about what you bring from your personal life to create a character in your work?
Hudson: For me, I look at everything on a project-to-project basis. For this film, for me, it was more about just basically, "I would just like to sing for Rob Marshall." So that’s the first thing for me for this: "Please get me in the room, and I can just hit one note and see if he bites." [She laughs.]

I’m a spontaneous person, so when I approach anything, I try not to think too much. There are days where I feel like I have to get a little more in it, more heady, but for me, I am an instinctual being, so I approach things with my instincts.

Nicole, your Claudia Jenssen character has a line in the movie where she says, "I’d rather be the man" when it’s described what she has to do in Guido’s film. What do you think about that line, and do you think it applies to actresses in contemporary filmmaking?
Kidman: Most of the time, the roles are better for men. But I also think the way [Guido] describes it to be specific in that scene, that role [for a man] sounds more riveting than all of the other things he’s presenting to me, which sound waffly. And as we know, he has no idea anyway. He’s sort of clutching at straws. And I think that says very much about the character of Claudia, in the sense of being, even though she’s his actress, she knows him in a way where she can speak a truth to him as well and she’s not frightened to do that.

But in terms of Hollywood? Yes. I think a lot of the time, they rewrote a role for a woman, for Angelina [Jolie]. I think it was "Wanted." That was originally a man’s role, and the rewrote it and made it a woman’s role. I think that sometimes that can be great. I wish they’d do that more often. [She laughs.] But I’m also about to play a man [in the film "The Danish Girl"], so strangely enough, that does ring true for me. It’s a man that obviously goes through a sex change.

How do you know you didn’t take that role away from a man?
Kidman: I’ll be answering that at the next press conference. [Laughter]

Penélope or any of the women on the panel, can you imagine fighting over the attention of a guy the way all the ladies do in "Nine"?
Cruz: Wow, that would be tough, especially with this group of ladies. I wouldn’t want to see myself in that situation!

Hudson: I’d rather hang with the ladies. I’d rather be like, "Uh, OK, Guido, whatever! You guys want to go to lunch?" That’s just me. Nicole said once about Daniel through this process that I thought was so wonderful. You were saying that his dedication and passion for what he does reminds you of who luck and blessed we are to be able to do this. It puts you back in that place were we recognize why we love what we do so much. Daniel’s ability, it's inspiring. It’s truly inspiring to watch his process. It makes you really love it.

Kidman: And it hasn’t waned. He’s been doing it for a long time, and it hasn’t waned, his commitment to what he does. As you all know, he’s won two Academy Awards, and he so deserves it. He’s the true actor’s actor.

But that applies to a lot of you as well.
Kidman: We can’t say that about ourselves [or we’d look arrogant]. But honestly, it was interesting being around this cast. People ask us about the egos and everything, and I think when you're working, the egos are not a part of it, because when you love what you do, you're just so glad to be around other people who love what they do. I came into the rehearsal room and saw Kate dancing up a storm … And I went, "Wow! That's amazing!"

I can't wait for people to see that part of her, and maybe she'll get a Broadway show out of this because she so deserves the lead in a show, whether she’d want to do it or not. I think that's what it is. And you see that with our director, he's just in the trenches, working everyday, and he still does not want to give the film up. That's what you need to be around to do good work, because it's contagious and it’s also inspiring.

Sophia, you worked with Federico Fellini in real life. What was it about the character of Guido that you felt best reflected Felllini’s personality?
Loren: The story of Fellini is a magical story in the movie that Italy has done. So I was very happy when Rob Marshall called me up and said, "We are going to do this play about the story of Fellini and I would like you to be in it." I was very proud of it because I was the only Italian in the film, to be able to say that Italian movies are still wonderful all over the world. I accepted in a very nice way. Rob told me that he was not going to do the film if I was not going to be in it. So for the sake of his career, I said, "It's OK, I'm going to be in it. So don’t you worry." And I did, and here I am.

Sophia, Nicole and Penélope, where you do you keep your Academy Awards?
Loren: In the library.

Kidman: My mom has it on her mantle at her house in Sydney.

Cruz: I have it in my house in Spain, and I still haven’t found the right place for it. But for the first month when I won, I was so excited about it, that I took it everywhere with me. I even took it to the beach one day. I put it on the towel.

Daniel Day-Lewis is a Method actor, so he stays in character off-camera. Can you talk about how you related to him off-camera while he was in the Guido character?
Loren: I love Daniel, very much indeed. And I really admire the kind of work he does when he starts to make a film. He’s completely concentrated in what he has to do, and his mind is a constant thought about what he has to do next. He’s very, for an actress, very intimidating, because he was somebody who was not reachable sometimes, and then at the same time, he was with you all the time. He’s strange, and I love him a lot.

Cruz: I have to say, I was a little bit nervous about meeting him, because he's really one of my favorite actors and I think he's one of the masters of acting of all time. I've heard all these stories about the way he works, and I tried not to listen to any of those stories, to see for myself. I arrived and I went into the stage and they were rehearsing a number and he was not part of that number. I saw this man dressed in a suit in a corner just watching. For two hours I was there and I did not recognize him, and they said, "No, that's Daniel. He's always here watching the others. He's always on the set."

I went and said hello, and he was really one of the greatest partners to work with, really kind, really generous. I tried to make him part of my game of self-criticism after a take. "Daniel! I think I was terrible, what do you think?" He said, "I will never engage in that game with you. Let's go and do the next take." That was a huge lesson for me: someone who never looks at the monitor, is always in the present. "What's next?" It’s a huge lesson for acting, about not engaging into your own [self-criticism]. In that way, Daniel has no ego, he's always moving forward. Huge lesson for me abut acting.

Kidman: I didn’t find it odd, maybe because I have a little bit of the same thing with the character. We didn’t talk that much as Daniel and Nicole. I remember when we shot our scenes, we barely spoke. But we would sit in the little room together, and I felt comfortable enough to have a nap in front of him. We were silent around each other. And now [doing publicity for "Nine"] we talk.

The way Daniel does that work is also because of the directors that he chooses, because it’s very important that that [Method acting] is not ridiculed, it’s not made fun of, it’s no t analyzed too much. And Ro is amazing like that, because he allows the process of each actor to blossom and exist. And so he creates a space for everybody to do their work. That sounds easy, and it’s very hard. And he molds us.

Hudson: When I first met Daniel, I was rehearsing. He was watching and I was like, "What’s Daniel doing here?" I had a very similar experience as Penélope [did]. He’s, like Penélope said, so kind and generous. I had a scene [with Daniel] where we got to get drunk at a bar. And we had a blast! The Guido I got was the one who wanted to come out of himself. So we were laughing, stools were flying everywhere. I didn’t get the agonized Guido. But all in all, as a man in-character off-set, he's present and sees you. He's not lost. You never feel like it’s only his; you feel like a part of it. He brings you into it, writing notes to you as his character. It's not coming from a place of ego; it's just his process.

What did he say in his notes?
Hudson: It was just after the number or something, he would write, "Oh, the number was great. Love, Guido." As you would write anybody a note, he would just write it to you as Guido. And it was great. What a keepsake. I still have it.

Sophia, what does it take to be Italian right now compared to 40 years ago?
Loren: Why should Italians not be the same since 40 years ago? Italians will be the same always, all the time. Italians are people that have a lot of heart, a lot to say in every field, and we will be always be successful all over the world. I’m very proud of being Italian.

Can you talk about the fashion in "Nine" and how you felt wearing it?
Hudson: Yes! It was great! I have written down here how to pronounce Swarovski, because I always say it wrong. I’m a huge clothes fanatic — I’m wearing Bottega Veneta — and working with Colleen [Atwood, the costume designer for "Nine"], was like … this is going to sound really bad, but I’m going t say it anyway. When I was growing up, I’d watch Bob Mackie make my mother [Goldie Hawn] these phenomenal costumes — I mean, dresses and gowns and couture beads everywhere. And as a little girl, your eyes are sparkling going, "Wow, this amazing to look at."

And then as I started becoming a woman and the way clothes and fashion and costuming changed in my generation, working with Colleen was like a throwback to me being a little girl with these beads and real hook-and-eyes — the real deal, you know? And I remember putting on the Swarovski crystal number and it weighed 15 pounds. And I thought to myself, "This is awesome! This is what costuming is about!" And that’s Colleen and that’s Rob. And everything is authentic. And for somebody who loves clothes, you can’t help but feel great in them, and it sort of transforms the energy when they’re that specific.

Kidman: It’s just great when you work with people who are able to help the characters be made. We would come out and each one of us was very, very different and very distinctive. And I think Colleen and Rob and ["Nine" producer/choreographer] John [DeLuca] worked very, very hard in giving us each a very detailed, specific character, because film is about what you see. It’s not just what you hear. So it has to impinge. Colleen had very limited time to do it as well, because we were in and out and rehearsing, so she had to really work fast and furious ad have the things be able to hold up for big dance numbers, which is tough.

Cruz: I think she’s one of the greatest. I went to visit the place where she would work many times. Every time I would have a half-hour free, I would go up and see her. Most of [the costume making] was done by hand, and it was beautiful to see how things were evolving. And the other reason why I visited her so much was because I was obsessed with the clothes I was going to wear for my number. I had heard I was doing the number in a corset. And I was dancing on this crystal platform and I didn’t want the shoes to be slippery. So I was there every day torturing her, but I was in the best possible hands.

It was great to see that Rob really spent so much time in every department. The head of every department is amazing, but Rob is one of those directors who takes the time to choose every single thing that you see on every frame. That always makes you feel very confident.

Loren: I cannot say much because I was a spirit in the film. I shouldn’t have worn any clothes. Rob was always there watching. "What are you going to wear, Sophia, for this scene?" And we were always fighting because I wanted to wear something nice. What I wore in the film is something that is very good for the character I’m playing anyway. And the shoes were not very slippery for me. And everything went OK.

What was Rob Marshall like as a director?
Hudson: As a fan of musical theater and musicals — because I was obsessed with them as a kid — there are very few people who can put that on film and make it seamless. And at the same time, you have that feeling when you’re watching a number on screen, when you’re seeing it live, you get that energy. And when you put it on screen, you’re missing a dimension and it’s very difficult to bring it to life. And Rob has this incredible ability to take that feeling and you can feel it in a movie theater. And I’ve never had a feeling in a [movie] musical except when I watch Rob’s musicals on screen.

Cruz: That’s what makes him so unique. He can be extremely picky. He can see everything. You can never fool him. He can really, really work you hard — and of course, we want that as actors — but he can do that being the nicest man in the world. And when I met him the first day, I felt like he’s one of the kindest, nicest people I ever met but I wondered how he would be in a situation under pressure.

One month goes by, two months go by, and he’s always like this to everybody. He’s always kind to everybody. He never loses his temper. He never treats anybody without respect. And you don’t see a lot of people who can handle this huge, enormous amount of pressure that he had in this movie with such manners. He’s just such a beautiful person … You really don’t see a lot of people who has the talent that he has but then also put that much love into what they do, that much respect into what they do. If he could’ve given his life for this movie, he would. He worked so hard. He treated every single person in the group in such a nice way.