Susan Sarandon may be one of the most acclaimed thespians of her day, but she totally gives in to newfangled moviemaking. Playing Mom Speed in the upcoming Speed Racer gave Sarandon challenges she'd never faced before in any of her Oscar nominated roles.

"It's the first time I've ever really worked with a chimpanzee," said Sarandon. "It was definitely just a lesson in surrendering to a world that we couldn't even really comprehend because the way that it was being filmed and everything was so extraordinary. I have a tiny [part]. I mean, I'm there all the time but I serve pancakes."

With a hair flip like the animated Mom Speed, the whole experience seems like a cartoon to Sarandon. "Did you see the cartoon? That's it. It's wild. I can't even begin to tell you about Speed Racer. The Wachowski Brothers are really brilliant and really fun and big hearted and I loved working with them."

Still, the actors play it straight. "We play it naturally. It's not exaggerated. We're all playing it naturally but the whole world around us is crazy. Speed Racer, we're playing it kind of for real in this world that's just kind of like The Jetsons meets I don't know what. It's very, very bright. Very infused."

The Warner Bros. pic hits theaters May 9, 2008.