"San Andreas" star and Oscar nominee Paul Giamatti can now add seismologist to his diverse list of movie roles. However, this time around, his takeaway is very different -- that Mother Nature is an absolute force to be reckoned with and that her seismic energy shouldn't be taken lightly.

Latin Post caught up with Giamatti in an exclusive interview in Los Angeles, where the film "San Andreas" is based, and spoke with the star about his latest role as Lawrence Hayes, a leading Caltech seismologist who believes he's found a way to track earthquakes before they happen.

Giamatti also discussed the impressive and life-like Hollywood set that recreated the Hoover Dam in Nevada that collapses and is swallowed up by an earthquake.

Portraying a seismologist is a big change for Giamatti, who is known for his Oscar nominated role in "Cinderella Man," as well as his roles in "The Truman Show," "Saving Private Ryan," "American Splendor," "Sideways" and the Golden Globe-winning miniseries, "John Adams."

Giamatti's hilarious role as Kenny "Pig Vomit" Rushton in the film adaptation of Howard Stern's "Private Parts" proves that Giamatti, while intense, also has a great sense of humor.

"Oh ok, that's good. So it seemed like I was actually a scientist? Alright, that's good," he joked with Latin Post about resembling a science teacher.

In the film, "Hayes (Giamatti) has been crunching data and tracking sensors since even before the quakes struck California, studying what was likely their precursor, the one that rocked Nevada and destroyed Hoover Dam before triggering the San Andreas Fault. If he's right, it would be a validation of his life's work, yet it would mean more widespread destruction."

While in real life Yale-educated Giamatti doesn't claim to be an expert on the topic, he's amazed by seismology.

"I didn't know the kind of science behind [earthquakes] ... that there are webs and swarms of them ..." he told Latin Post. "I also didn't know about the kind of cycles that there were, but this area (L.A.) is long overdue for one," he added. "I just didn't know anything about it. It was all interesting to me."

Despite some recent reports that have challenged the science behind the film, Giamatti zeroes in on the role and its possibilities. After all, it's a Hollywood film, so some exaggeration is expected to add to the thrill for movie-goers, CGI fans and action film enthusiasts.

"He's a brilliant scientist and something of a renegade, at the forefront of this research," Giamatti added about his character.

While there are constant setbacks and a breakdown of power and communication at his Pasadena lab, Hayes (Giamatti) does everything in his power to warn people with the help of Archie Panjabi's ("The Good Wife") intrepid TV journalist Serena, who is stranded beside him.

"The seismology story becomes the narrative spine of the movie, which frames and contextualizes the disaster," said "San Andreas" screenwriter Carlton Cuse.

Giamatti recognized the gravity of these powerful earthquakes from California to Alaska, Chile and more recently in Nepal.

According to the Associated Press, the strongest temblors in recorded history have been near offshore subduction zones where one large tectonic plate goes under another. A 9.5 magnitude earthquake in Chile in 1960 is currently the world record-holder.

"They have had a bunch of huge ones in Chile over the years ..." Giamatti added.

A Connecticut native who lives in New York, Giamatti recalled being in New York City during 9/11 and how the film has many scenes that are somewhat reminiscent of that catastrophic and tragic day in our country's history.

"It was a different sort of thing that happened. Ya know? I mean it was crazy," he said. "There's a lot about it. ... It was a strange day as it was for everybody. It was an oddly beautiful day, weather-wise, which is one of the bizarre things about it. It was pretty harrowing. It was a different kind of disaster, ya know? I almost don't like to think about it."

As mentioned, there is an intense scene in the film where Nevada's Hoover Dam collapses.

"They actually built the causeway of the dam so that cars could go up and down. It was the real thing and I think fairly to scale..." he explained. "We had hundreds of extras and it was all timed. They would signal to us when a tremor hit so we could all move at the same time. The central part of it actually collapsed. It was pretty cool. It felt like it was very tense and real. It was fun to shoot."

"For the havoc at Nevada's Hoover Dam, the production built a length of road at the Outback Spectacular Car Park and portions of the tunnel on a shaker base on stage, which the VFX team then transformed into a large-scale event whereby the dam cracks open and the road disintegrates," according to Warner Bros. Pictures.

In addition, "San Francisco's iconic Golden Gate Bridge was represented by a 55-foot mid-section of physical construction with breakaway pieces that could be filmed from either side, then digitally augmented."

Hayes' (Giamatti's) office and the Caltech seismology lab were also built on a space at Brisbane's Archerfield Airport, adjacent to another space that stood in for Ray's LAFD base, which is where most of Giamatti's scenes were filmed.

"Since Brad wanted to do a lot of it practically, we were sitting there on the Caltech set while guys were shaking the desks, lights were swinging and going out," Giamatti said. "It put us right into the moment."

"San Andreas" also stars Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who plays a search and rescue helicopter pilot alongside his estranged wife, played by Carla Gugino. Together, they make their way from Los Angeles to San Francisco to save their only daughter (Alexandra Daddario), but it proves to be the ultimate challenge.

The action thriller reunites Johnson with director Brad Peyton and producer Beau Flynn, following their collaboration on the global hit "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island."

The film also stars Ioan Gruffudd, Hugo Johnstone-Burt and Art Parkinson.

Check out Latin Post's exclusive interview with Paul Giamatti as well as the official trailer for "San Andreas," which will be released by Warner Bros. Pictures this Friday, May 29, 2015.