"I have to be on good behavior with both of them watching," said the young actor, at the University of Virginia's Culbreth Hall on Thursday night for a screening of his new film, "Lake City," at the 21st annual Virginia Film Festival.

Spacek, in comments with reporters before the screening, described the film as a character-driven thriller. She added that it may well provide her, as a maturing actress, "with my last chance to do a scene running through a cornfield."

She said doing her own stunts in that cornfield wasn't without peril.

"I've been running for 30 years now, so I wasn't nervous about that," she said. "But being chased by a truck was something else. I got a charley horse and really just about bought the farm."

The film was produced on a small budget by a collaboration of directors, producers and stars with Virginia and U.Va. ties. It was shot in and around Richmond.

After Spacek mentioned that she and others in the production loaned their own furniture to outfit the empty farmhouse used in the film, Garity smiled.

Garity, the son of Fonda and Tom Hayden, said he got a surprise when he opened the drawer on a night table on loan from Spacek.

"Inside was the diary of Sissy's daughter, Schuyler," he said. "She's nothing if not a method actress."

The back-and-forth was all part of the festive, Hollywood-fueled evening that kicked off another year of the four-day festival that annually brings some of the industry's top stars and films to this small college town.

The fact that Spacek, who lives in the area, had just starred in a film shot in Virginia with a Virginia crew and Virginia production group made it perfect to kick off the festival. The movie is a story of a mother and son, still dealing with a long-past tragedy, who reconnect when new challenges come to bear.

Walking through a corridor of cameras at the "Lake City" screening, Fonda said she was just in town to support her son.