Silverstone recalls 9/11 premonition

Batman & Robin star Alicia Silverstone had an awful premonition the morning she woke up to the 9/11 atrocities that a family member was dead.

The newlywed actress lost her cousin Lisa Trerotola, an employee at the New York Port Authority, in the World Trade Center attacks, and knew a tragedy had befallen the family before she even knew about the terrorist horror.

She says: "In my gut, I knew we'd suffered a loss in the family.

"Lisa was a wonderful lady. Sometimes it takes a deep tragedy to bring you closer as a family, and that is what happened in our case.

"Lisa's death affected me in a way you cannot even begin to imagine."

Silverstone always tries to find time in her busy schedule to visit her dead cousin's motherless twins, who were three when the secretary died.

The actress adds: "They are doing well, but you can't help but be affected by the loss of someone so close to you. It helps keep things in perspective."