Leighton Meester is transitioning from Upper East Side gossip girl to unstable roommate with a distorted grasp on reality. “The Roommate,” which will be released Friday, is a thriller based on the 1992 flick, “Single White Female.” In this updated version, Meester plays a college student, Rebecca, who becomes infatuated with her roommate. The Daily Kent Stater had the opportunity to chat with the celebrity via a college conference call last week, and Meester shared some insight on some different aspects of “The Roommate.”

The plot:

“This is obviously a story about two young women who become friends — and my character becomes fixated on Minka’s character — and its unhealthy obsession that has no real base in reality and things that go wrong.

How everyone can relate:

“I think that a lot of people can relate to it because it is a little bit scary, if nothing else, moving in with a total stranger… Everyone’s probably, at one point, had a friend that is a little bit too needy or too nosy or sort of feeling like they have a right to all your business and your clothes and your belongings or whatever.”

The internal impact of her role:

“I was really lucky because all I had to do was work on this movie every day. I didn’t have many other obligations at the time, so I got to be really involved and focused, which really was a pleasure. Some of the things that I had to do were really disturbing for me — particularly a scene involving a kitchen; it was an intense experience. I’ll say that.”

Preparing for her role:

“I was really lucky I had the opportunity to really prepare for this and got a lot of great psychology books and information on delusion, mental disorder — especially in women. I had the chance to speak with different psychiatrists about the disorder and get all kinds of information.”

Working with Minka Kelly:

“I love Minka, and I was so lucky to be able to work with her. She has a light around her. She’s beautiful, and she’s so incredibly talented and giving and kind, and she was really supportive throughout the whole thing. She has a way of making things light and easy on the set, and she’s just brilliant.”

What attracted her to this role:

“The character. I love to break down and see where I can relate to somebody and find the humanity in them, and I want to care about my character and love my character. It was not easy with Rebecca, to say the least, but I think that if you track how she is, if you track her actions, they’re always motivated by something interval, obviously not based in reality at all, so I thought it was really interesting.”

The perfect roommate:

“I actually love living alone. I used to have roommates all the time when I first moved into my own place. It’s a challenge to live with people. I mean, obviously the best thing about a roommate in a good situation is if you know them… If you don’t, you have no idea what their habits might be. You’re kind of taking on their friends and their life as well into your home.”

Her future roles:

“I think that the best part about my job is that I can do different things all the time. I would never want to do the same thing twice… I would like to do something new and completely fresh for myself. I never want to be bored.”

Afraid of her own movie:

“I’m such a wimp, too. Trust me. I saw it, and I was in the movie, and I was scared. It’s definitely jarring and disturbing at points, but I think it’s also exciting and fun, and it’s a ride, and it’s very sexy.”

Contact Jennifer Shore at [email protected].