Actor Peter Fonda on the "Thomas" movie

(CNN) – Award-winning actor Peter Fonda is featured as Grandpa Burnett Stone in the new film "Thomas and the Magic Railroad" which opens in theatres on July 26. Thomas the Tank Engine, a talking train, first appeared in a series of 1940s children’s books. Since then, the character has starred in two television series, and has sold almost 15 million videos around the world. The movie blends live action, digital effects and model animation.

Peter Fonda earned a Golden Globe Award, the New York Film Critics Award, and an Oscar nomination as best actor for his role as a beekeeper in the 1997 film "Ulee’s Gold." For 35 years, he has been featured in films ranging from the 1969 anti-establishment classic "Easy Rider", which he also produced and co-wrote, to the recent Steven Soderbergh film, "The Limey."

Chat Moderator: Welcome to the CNN chat room, Peter Fonda.

Peter Fonda: Hello, everybody. Very happy you are in the room!

Chat Moderator: The common advice to actors is: do not work with children and animals. In this film, you are working with a young actress and a cute train. What was that like?

Peter Fonda: It was a fabulous experience. I've always wanted to do a children's film. I mean to direct one, act in one, whatever. In this case, to act in one because there is still this child in me.

In fact, it is the child in me whose average age is 8-years-old who gets paid to be a beekeeper in North Florida, or Captain America in "Easy Rider," or Grandpa Burnett Stone in "Thomas and the Magic Railroad." Now I talked about those three films because I want you to think about the art of character involved in these three, very different types of movies.

Chat Moderator: What kind of man is Grandpa Stone, the character you portray in this film?

Peter Fonda: Grandpa Stone is a man who is on the verge of losing the magic, and we want him not to lose the magic. We want him to still be able to believe in possibilities. And Mara Wilson, who is the lead in the movie, she brings my character, my essence, back into the "now."

I guess that really forces me to go back into the thought-belief of magic and special moments, and Thomas the Train is the vehicle through which this all happens.

Chat Moderator: What was it about this script, and your character in particular, that interested you?

Peter Fonda: It is a very sweet story, and because I see older people losing their vision of possibilities and, I think, as we get older we should be broadening our vision of possibilities. The magic has to be even more exciting. Allowing the magic into your life allows your life to be a part of all life. If we are operating on the idea that we are different from all life, we shouldn't be in a movie theater anyway, either on the screen or in a seat.

I knew about Thomas, the franchise of Thomas the Tank Engine, because I had read the books to my son, Thomas, and I have a grandson Thomas, too. He actually has a Thomas the Tank Engine Train toy, which is about three cars - Thomas and two cars behind him. You push Mr. Conductor down into the cab of Thomas, and some sort of spring action makes the train scoot forward about three or four feet. Now, this toy is for the knees and hands group, but when my 2-year-old grandson gets to be three or four, he will watch movies.

I can't wait for the tape of this movie to be in the machine, my grandson watching that tape, and seeing me on the tape and in the room. I will be able to explain to him how I could be in these two places at the same time.

Question from Idpoirp: Mr. Fonda, what would you say I would enjoy the most in "Thomas and the Magic Railroad"?

Peter Fonda: I think you would enjoy the beautiful settings of the Isle of Man, where I shot the movie, and that the effects, the model work, are absolutely incredible. It's so good and the computer-generated imaging really makes the magic sparkle.

For me, it was very interesting to play real time with real actors and totally make fun of a green screen or a blue screen and make believe I see something that isn't there, and also working with models. Just working in this medium with these three different styles was challenging as an actor and I believe that's part of what's going to be interesting when you see the movie. It's not my challenge; it’s the challenge the movie gives to you. Do you still have the magic?

Question from Grouch: Where do you find the magic in your life?

Peter Fonda: Every day. Every day when I wake up, when I look out my windows, or standing in my front yard watching a great big bull moose in full velvet sauntering through my fields on his way down to the Yellowstone River. Or on a 30 or 40 degree below zero night with a fierce wind blowing, an entire herd of whitetail deer hunkered down next to my cabin to get out of the wind, and knowing how they talk to each other, the noises they make, and what those noises mean.

Then, of course, there is the magic of the 8-year-old in me. I call this little bit of magic "my eight year old" because an 8-year-old is very satisfied to pretend to be this or that or whatever, a beekeeper in North Florida like I said, or Captain America. A 12-year-old can only think about being 13 or 14, when they hear that word "teen" attached to their age. For the 8-year-old, there is no problem in pretending; for the 12-year-old, there is no time to pretend.

Question from Chicago: Mr. Fonda, do you find it difficult to transition from a role where you play an unsavory character like you did in "The Limey" to a role like your current project?

Peter Fonda: I love the change. I thrive on it. It's what reminds me how wonderful acting is, how lucky I am to have this job. And how fortunate I am that my career is successful and I can do this until I die.

Question from Gogirl: My 3-year-old son loves Thomas the Train. He has watched the videos and has a computer game. Will the movie be geared to his age group or older?

Peter Fonda: It is geared precisely starting at age 3, to 6 or 7. He'll understand every minute of it, every second.

Question from Idpoirp: Is there any particular thing that you will always remember from making this movie, Mr. Fonda?

Peter Fonda: A toughie: The trains on the Isle of Man, because they do look exactly like Thomas the Tank Engine. And they actually do steam around the whole Isle of Man. If I had a moment of doubt, all I had to do is go look at one of those little trains puffing around and weave the reality into the magic of the film.

Chat Moderator: What was it like to work with Britt Allcroft, especially since this was her film directorial debut?

Peter Fonda: Well, Britt has directed all the stuff on television, and has owned and been part of the Tank Engine franchise for many years after she bought it from the estate of Reverend Wilber Awdry. She has been with this character for a long time, and she understands what it is all about: Thomas, his friends, and how they play in those magical parts of our hearts. So she has experience through writing and TV and radio shows.

She was a very dedicated director who was always fine-tuning the show and I think that any of the Thomas the Tank Engine fans will be thrilled by the way she's told the story.

Question from Idpoirp: Do you find that acting gets easier with time, Mr. Fonda?

Peter Fonda: Acting gets more interesting with time. With time, and age, one finds more moments to "fill." You see, it's not just memorizing the words and speaking them. It's finding those moments between the words and filling them with presence.

Chat Moderator: Why do the Thomas stories attract both children and their parents?

Peter Fonda: A good question and one that 's not easily answered although I bought Thomas the Tank Engine for my grandson. I think that a story that utilizes a train as its main character is touching on the fantasies we all had when we were children and watched some train in the distance -- wondering where it was going, from where it had come and what were the people like inside it.

Chat Moderator: You have worked with both experienced directors and those who are just beginning their directorial careers. What are the advantages of working with a new director?

Peter Fonda: The advantage of working with a new director is that very thing. The new director doesn't necessarily have a lot of technique to fall back on but does have, or could have, a never-thought-of-before way of expressing the feelings that are supposed to be the story of the film.

Question from Linda: Why do you think the bad boys of the sixties -- including Denny, Ringo, George Carlin and now you -- have become involved in these gentle stories for children?

Peter Fonda: I haven't the foggiest ideas about the other lads you spoke of but, for me, I always wanted to do a children's film. I just didn't know I would have to wait until I was almost 60 before I could play in a children's film.

Chat Moderator: What kind of reaction are you getting from children and parents as you promote this film?

Peter Fonda: Great reaction. I imagine some relief that Peter Fonda is not Captain America all the time. It's always nice to know that you have done something that has made a very young person discover something new about life.

Chat Moderator: What lesson or lessons do you want families to see in this film?

Peter Fonda: I would hope that the lesson of family itself, maintaining and being a full family, is a very important thing, something most people on the planet today tend to forget. There's so many wild and crazy and terrible things happening, but I think if we can keep our family ties close to us, we can do something about those wild and crazy and violent things that are happening all around us. A family of individuals can do far more than any one individual in changing our world from being one of hate and suspicion, war and famine, into a world of hope, realizing dreams and possibilities, creating things to help all the peoples of the world to have a better life, to help others to have a better life.

Chat Moderator: Do you have any final thoughts for us?

Peter Fonda: I think that although this movie "Thomas of the Magic Railroad" is made for an audience of kids from 3 to 8-years-old, that their parents should watch it too, so the parents can have the experience of finding themselves and regenerating themselves. Pity the child who doesn't know its mother, its father, its grandparents, its aunts and uncles, and all the traditions that that family has brought through its existence to this very moment.

Chat Moderator: Thank you for joining us today, Peter Fonda.

Peter Fonda: Thank you all very much for joining us here in the room. Those of you who go to see the movie, enjoy yourself. I hope you can enjoy yourself as much as I did while making this film.