Elisabeth Röhm Remembers ‘Brave’ Anne Heche Ahead of ‘Girl in Room 13’ Premiere (Exclusive)

One of Anne Heche’s final projects, “Girl in Room 13,” premieres on Saturday, just weeks after the star’s death.

“Extra’s” Jenn Lahmers caught up with director Elisabeth Röhm and actress Larissa Dias to learn more about the Lifetime movie centering on violence against women.

Lahmers noted how difficult it must be to premiere the movie without Anne, and asked how they were doing. Elisabeth said, “Reeling, like just to be expected. We shared a very special journey with Anne telling this important film.”

Röhm went on to explain, “And it really was personal to Anne as well. She had been through a lot of abuse in her childhood, and stopping violence against women was really important for her to participate in.”

In the movie, Anne plays a mom whose daughter (Dias) is kidnapped by an ex with the intention of selling her to human traffickers.

Jenn asked Larissa what it was like working with Heche.

“She's a phenomenal actress,” Larissa said. “She brings her A game to this movie, specifically, because she was very passionate about the cause.”

Did Anne give her advice? Dias said, “She pushed me sometimes. ‘Just really go for it.’”

Elisabeth added, “She was just incredibly brave and generous. But she also… genuinely had that movie star magic… and she was inspiring to the other actors.”

Sharing memories of Heche that embodied her from set, Röhm said, “She was a super great collaborator. She was somebody who came to work early, left late, was invested.”

Elisabeth continued, “It feels very sacred to be able to hold this space also for her. We really both loved working with her, so it's definitely been overwhelming. I admired her very much.”

Röhm said of the movie, “We really just hope this movie, which humbly tells one story, one version of human trafficking in modern society, really draws attention to this $150-billion industry. Statistics alone are never really current because we have no way of knowing how many people are in captivity.”

“Girl in Room 13” premieres September 17 at 8 p.m. on Lifetime.