LOS ANGELES — Alison Eastwood has been a model, an actress, a Playboy Playmate and a producer. Now, the 35-year-old daughter of Clint Eastwood has turned her talents toward directing.

Her first effort, "Rails & Ties," features Marcia Gay Harden and Kevin Bacon as a couple forever changed by a deadly train crash.

Eastwood — who was in Honolulu for the screening of her film at the Hawaii International Film Festival this year (it does not have a regular screening date in Honolulu yet) — says it was kismet. She was immediately drawn to the story, and in the process of making the movie, she discovered that she's a director.

Q. How did you find this story?

A. I got the script through a friend of a friend. ... I read it and I liked it and originally I attached myself as a producer. Then after having it for a couple of years and working on it with the writer, I just started having a vision for it. I started having a really strong desire to tell this story and had a real passion for it.

Q. The leap from actor to producer to director is substantial. Was it an organic shift?

A. I always kind of do things a little backward in my life. It was never like I aspired to direct. I always wanted to be involved in films whether it was producing or acting, but directing? Maybe it was subconscious just because of the association, like, OK, I'm already kind of living in the shadow of this iconic person and being in his business that maybe I just didn't want to go there. ... So after finding this material, it kind of became obsessive.

Q. Did your father contribute at all, in terms of suggestions or working with the studio?

A. He was helpful in getting it to ... a couple of key people (at the studio) and fortunately they really liked the material. And as long as I could stay within a certain budget and had certain kind of key people working with me, they were willing to give me a chance to direct.

Q. How did your work in front of the camera inform your directing?

A. I think it helps tremendously. ... A lot of directors are very technical and obviously have the creative things going on, but they don't really know what an actor has to go through. Sometimes they don't necessarily know how to communicate ... and I think it's really important (to) realize that responsibility, because if the actors don't have amazing performances and you're not helping them, there's no reason to turn the camera on.