The stars of “Like Crazy,” Anton Yelchin and Felicity Jones, were also available for a question-and-answer session and brought up many of the same points about the raw, intimate feel of the film.

“Going in, it was nerve-wracking, but exciting,” Jones said. “It was a challenge neither of us had had before. We got to know each other so well.”

“Developing the chemistry was really hard work,” Yelchin said. “It took a few days of rehearsal to get it to work.”

Yelchin (“Fright Night,” “Star Trek”) and Jones (“The Tempest”) admitted that part of the difficulty with their characters is that neither is like their real-life counterpart.

“It’s a different kind of performance for both of us,” Yelchin said. “Anna is very forward and sensitive while Jacob is introverted and passive.”

Nonetheless, both actors were drawn to the “intimate, naturalistic” tone of the film and the fact that they had much freedom with their character, thanks to Drake Doremus’ improvisational approach. Yelchin noted that one of the things he loved about acting was “the ability to see different parts of the human experience and understand them emotionally” (or, as Jones put it, the chance to “escape yourself”).

It didn’t hurt that Yelchin and Jones also got the chance to shoot in Los Angeles and London. For the two characters, the cities contrast one another.

“For Anna, L.A. is an escape from Britishness,” Jones said. “It’s where Anna reinvents herself. In London, she’s a lot more responsible. Jacob is not a part of her life there.”

All in all, the two feel rewarded by the chance to make a film “as honest and brave as possible” about the concept of love.

“It was an extraordinary experience,” said Jones.