Biel: New 'Total Recall' adds emotion

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SAN DIEGO, July 14 (UPI) -- U.S. actress Jessica Biel said director Len Wiseman's "Total Recall" adds an emotional element the original 1990 version of the film is missing.

Biel, who plays Melina in the film, told The Hollywood Reporter Friday filmmakers wanted audiences to feel moved by the remake, not just thrilled.

"It definitely is an action-thriller film, but to me, it's an action-drama love story," Biel said in an interview in San Diego. "We really wanted to tie this movie down to the ground in an emotional way, so you could go away feeling everything, not just excited by what it looks like."

The film follows some of the story of director Paul Verhoeven's original futuristic film. A man, played by Colin Farrell, discovers everything in his life might be a lie and that his memory has been erased or manipulated.

"It's this heartbreaking thing if you think about it in a real sense," she explains. "Like, your girlfriend doesn't remember you, but this is the love of your life. That's heartbreaking. So that's what we were continuing to maintain – this human experience is so brutal and hard to deal with, and that's what special little thing we wanted to keep infusing so that at times it feels like this love story," Biel said.

"I think it was really important to add that element, which was missing in the original," she added.