Jennifer Connelly's 'Dark Water'

Oscar Winner On Film And Motherhood

(CBS)  In a film career that has lasted over two decades, Jennifer Connelly has shown her talent in films like "House Of Sand And Fog", "Requiem For A Dream," and her Oscar-winning turn in "A Beautiful Mind."

It was not just her strong acting skills, but also her maternal instinct that made Connelly the right choice for the thriller, "Dark Water." At the time, Connelly's son, Stellan, was six months old. Her daughter in the film, played by Ariel Gade, was six years old.

Connelly tells The Early Show co-anchor Rene Syler, "There are these scenes where my daughter's life is being threatened, especially towards the end of the film, and I think it brings out a ferocity that, as a mother, I certainly understand."

It all begins inside Apartment 9F. Connelly's character, Dahlia Williams, is trying to make a brand-new start in life. Attempting to escape from a bitter custody battle with her estranged husband, she moves with her daughter Ceci to a dilapidated, sprawling housing block on Roosevelt Island at the very edges of New York City. But Dahlia soon begins to suspect there is a far greater threat.

Connelly explains, "You wonder is there something supernatural and wrong going on in this apartment building that she's moved into? Or is it her husband trying to sabotage her to get custody. Or is it her, sort of cracking under the pressure of trying to make it work, being on her own with her daughter, and she's confronting the ghosts of her child."