After enjoying Melissa George’s work in The Amityville Horror, Turistas and most recently, the bloody vampire thriller 30 Days of Night, I was beginning to think the actor was on the road to becoming Hollywood’s next scream queen.

“Not at all,” assures George. “I pursue projects that interest me and every film is different. Turistas was marketed far differently than I expected. I thought I was doing a film about illegal human trafficking, and they turned it into something else. The Amityville Horror is based on a true story, and 30 Days of Night is based on a graphic novel. Now of course, Music Within is quite different as well.”

Music Within is based on the life of Richard Pimentel, a brilliant public speaker with a troubled past. Pimentel returns from Vietnam severely hearing-impaired and finds a new purpose in his landmark efforts on behalf of Americans with disabilities.

“It’s an amazing story about an amazing man,” says George. “It is because of Richard Pimentel that we have widened doors and ramps to accommodate people in wheelchairs. Most importantly, what Richard did was raise awareness, which I hope this film also does.”

Born in Western Australia, George’s friendly accent is soft and easy on the ears. She explains that doing an American accent in her films presents a unique but enjoyable challenge. “It’s difficult, but it’s what I do,” she says. “First the challenge in acting is putting the correct emphasis on your words to express the feeling. I have the added challenge of also pronouncing the words correctly; but I like it a lot.” Another thing George enjoys is working with her many talented leading men, such as Ryan Reynolds in Amityville and Josh Hartnett in 30 Days. “Josh was phenomenal, and Ryan was brilliant. Of course, Ron Livingston (Music Within) was amazing and what can I say about Clive Owen (Derailed)? They are all 10s.”

Melissa George is the personification of how a positive outlook enables people to achieve their dreams.

Music Within releases in select theaters Oct. 26.