Kate Mara will be everywhere at this year's South by Southwest. After the world premiere of "The Astronaut" on Friday, the world premiere of "The Dutchman" on Saturday and the U.S. premiere of "Friendship" on Monday, Mara will make her way to Ireland to begin shooting "Bucking Fasterd" for director Werner Herzog, appearing for the first time alongside her sister, Rooney Mara.

"The Astronaut" is a dramatic thriller written and directed by Jess Varley, with Mara starring as Sam Walker, an astronaut who has returned from her first space mission and is placed in a special NASA facility to readjust to being on Earth. When strange things begin happening, it seems possible that something may have followed her back. Laurence Fishburne also appears as a military operative who is also Sam's adoptive father.

In "Friendship," a comedy of awkwardly escalating behavior written and directed by Andrew DeYoung, Mara's character has survived cancer and is attempting to reengage with her life. Her husband (Tim Robinson), meanwhile, is more concerned with obsessively pursuing a new friendship with a man down the street (Paul Rudd) than the fact that his wife is suddenly spending a lot of time with her ex-boyfriend, a strapping fireman.

In the bold adaptation of Amiri Baraka's landmark 1964 play "The Dutchman," directed and co-written by Andre Gaines, Mara plays Lula, a seductive, aggressive woman who inserts herself into the life of Clay (André Holland), a Black businessman who does not need the trouble she brings.

Mara, 42, got on a Zoom call earlier this week from her home in Los Angeles to reflect on this particularly busy moment of her career.

Q: What does it mean to you that these three projects are all lining up to play the festival at the same time?

A: It's pretty wild. It does make sense, though, just timing-wise, because I filmed all of these movies back-to-back last year. It was a really wild year. My youngest kids and I were just sort of like a little traveling family circus. We filmed "The Dutchman" in New York, and then from there we went to Ireland to film "The Astronaut." Literally, I think I had a day in between or something. And then from Ireland, we had a little break in between that and filming "Friendship" in New York again. So it was a very tight window of all three films. But I had two of my kids with me, and my husband, Jamie [Bell], just sort of came to visit us with our eldest son, Jack. And so it was a wild time to be a parent and also an actor, having to go from one character to the next. But it's exciting that they're all now all of a sudden being played at the same festival. It feels very surreal.

Q: Taking these roles together, especially "Friendship" and "The Dutchman," in one of them you're this put-upon wife and the other one you're this whirlwind, demonic vixen. Do you pride yourself on that kind of versatility?

A: I crave going all over the map with the characters that I play. So that's why I was open to doing all of these movies back-to-back, because I was so excited about going from the character of Lola in "The Dutchman," which is probably the most challenging role I've ever played in my career and took the most work to play her, and then to play my character in "The Astronaut." They couldn't have been more different. There are things, little tricks that definitely help shed one character and move on to the next. Like the second I wrapped "The Dutchman," I chopped all my hair off for the next film.

But back to your question, I just crave being uncomfortable. In my work, I really like to stretch myself. So for "Friendship," for example, that's the first real comedy that I've ever been in. So that to me was very intimidating. And it was so different than the thriller I had just made and the drama-thriller that I had made before that. So that's why I jumped at the opportunity there.

Q: Do you feel like you need to relate to your characters? Playing a character like the one in "The Dutchman," just from my sense of you, that's not the way you would behave in those social situations. How do you get yourself to that place?

A: No, I don't necessarily think you have to relate to them. But the ones that I don't see myself in are the ones that I want to play the most. The ones that are living in the shadows and that are confusing and hard to pin down. Those are the ones that I'm most fascinated by. The ones that kind of make you scared to dive into and make you go, "Oh, God, that's going to be such an uncomfortable day on set." I find the more you talk about the script with people that you really respect and trust — and it doesn't have to be people that are working on the film, just other people that either really understand the material or whatever — then I feel that that brings the most peace with: OK, this is what the journey looks like and this is maybe why.

Q: "Friendship" is not a joke-oriented comedy. It's very complicated and layered. Knowing this is the first comedy you've done, how did you find the experience?

A: Well, our director Andrew, he really wanted it to feel like we were filming more like a drama. Everything was going to be taken in a real serious way. Which makes it so much funnier when you watch it, We're not making jokes the whole time. It's just real situations with real people. That turns out to be hysterical. But I was very nervous going into it just because I wasn't sure what the environment on set would be and because people aren't used to seeing me in things like this. And so I just wanted to make sure that I knew what lane I was in, really. But Andy was always very clear about the movie he wanted to make, and it was all also very much on the page, very clear when reading it that it was meant to come off a certain way.

It was really just about me and Tim having the correct chemistry and/or lack thereof. And history with each other, which I found easy because Tim is so brilliant. We really got along and I admire him so much as an actor and writer, and so it actually was very easy once I got to set. It felt very freeing, and I was just so jealous that people who are in comedies get to experience that sort of joy every day. When it works, it's so clear that it's working. It's really fun to be a part of something that, when you're doing the scene, the camera guy, his shoulders are shaking because he is trying not to laugh. It's that sort of infectious joy.

Q: Is there a big difference for you between supporting roles and lead roles? Or is that something you don't even really process?

A: I definitely consider it because it's just so much more time. Being a parent, obviously it's much more time-consuming when you are — I think I'm in every scene of "The Astronaut" and I really don't have very many scenes with my co-stars. So that is definitely challenging, because it's longer days on set and more time away from the family. But then also I guess the silver lining was there wasn't a lot of dialogue. I had to prep for such a long time for "The Dutchman" because there's so much dialogue and most of it is from the play and so it's specific. So I had to prep for a long time just to memorize those lines before I got to set. But "The Astronaut," she really speaks very little and it's more about feeling.

So in that sense, it was less work leading up to it, but then you had to find everything in the moments. A lot of times I think to myself, well, if I'm going to be in every scene of this movie, whatever I do next, if I'm doing it right away, it has to be a smaller role because you have less to give almost. And it is really fun to be able to sit back and watch someone like Tim Robinson just sort of take the reins.

Q: It seems like you're really flourishing. How do you feel about where you are right now?

A: I don't really think about it in that way yet. I hadn't worked in a year, mainly because I just had a baby. And so I wanted that time. But some years, there's so many opportunities, and then other years there might be opportunities that you just don't think are interesting enough or life or circumstances keep you from working. Really, all I've known my whole life is being an actor. It's my job. And so it's not like I'm trying to get somewhere.

I'm so happy and grateful that I get to do this for a living. I still feel so much joy about it. Actually when I was working on "The Astronaut," Laurence Fishburne plays my dad and he and I really bonded a lot in between takes about that, about being a kid actor. I mean, he literally has been working, I think, since he was 9. And I've been working since I was 14, but really acting since I was 9. So we could really relate to that and relate to still being on set and going like, wow, this is really what we get to do for a living. What an amazing thing that we still feel so much passion for it. And not everybody does. I do feel really grateful that I still have that desire and that excitement about it. And so when you meet somebody else who's had even more experience than you, who does also feel that way and it's so clear. It was very inspiring and it gave me a lot of hope. I hope that I'll feel this way in 10 years. I can't imagine that I won't. I'm just grateful that I keep getting the opportunities that are interesting enough for me to do the work.

Q: You and your sister Rooney are going to be in a film together for the first time, not just playing sisters, but playing twins. I can only imagine that the two of you have been approached about a lot of projects over the years. What is it about this one that made the two of you finally say yes?

A: Well, the easiest answer is Werner Herzog. We both adore him as a human now, but we didn't know him before he made us the offer. But we knew him as a filmmaker. And hands down, he's one of the most fascinating filmmakers. I just have admired him for so long that we both, before reading it, got very, very excited about the opportunity and dove into the script right away. And then it just so happens that it's one of the more unique things I've ever read. No surprise there, because he wrote it. And to be able to be in a movie with each other, it's a dream. We've wanted to do it for a long time and we've definitely been sent things that we maybe have considered but it's never been obvious. It's always sort of been a question. And with this, it felt like an obvious yes.

And it's one of the greatest titles of all time. It's called "Bucking Fasterd." I mean, who doesn't want to be in a movie called "Bucking Fasterd"?

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