'Cabin in the Woods' stars on working with Whedon

Joss Whedon doesn't just have fans among the world of geeks.

Three of the stars of his new film, "Cabin in the Woods," also think the "Buffy" impresario is pretty awesome. Anna Hutchison, Jessie Williams and Kristen Connolly sat down with CNN last month during SXSW and shared a bit of what it was like to work with Whedon, who co-wrote the horror film.

"You learn a lot as you go," Williams said. "I learned a lot about the hype around him, and how rightfully he deserves it. He made it fun."

The trio play a part of a group of friends who venture on a trip to said cabin in the woods for an experience that turns out to be not quite what it seems.

Williams said working with both Whedon and co-writer/director Drew Goddard helped, given the long hours and physically taxing scenes, which often involved running and lots of blood.

"[Whedon] is hilarious," he said. "The passion that he brought to the project, both him and Drew kept our spirits high."

Not that all of that bloody acting wasn't fun. Hutchison recalled how she arrived on set one day to discover a stunt double who she said ended up being pretty bored.

"I was like 'Oh no, I was a Power Ranger, I've done stunt training," the actress said. "I made sure that girl was very, very chilled out. I think she was just kind of hanging out at craft services."

The group joked about how hard it has been to keep details of the film secret so as to avoid spoilers. Pretty tough, given that they've been waiting three years for the project to come to the screen. But they have sworn not to ruin it for fans.

"It's definitely more fun to see the film not knowing anything," Connolly said. "It would be mean for us to say anything."