It was fun to play villain: Julia Roberts (Interview)

Los Angeles, April 8 (IANS) Julia Roberts has essayed all kinds of roles with aplomb and acclaim and now this versatile actor is set to show her villainous streak in the Hollywood movie "Mirror Mirror" directed by Indian origin filmmaker Tarsem Singh. She says she had fun playing a negative character.

"It was fun to play this villain because there aren't any real rules of syntax or reality that apply to her. So, I could kind of do anything and just go off the rails in any direction at any time and it would make sense to me," Roberts told IANS in an e-mail interaction.

"In that regard, it was a lot of fun. You don't have to worry too much about the reality of, 'Would a person really do this?'" she added.

"Mirror Mirror", releasing April 20, tells the tale of an evil queen, who takes over the control of a kingdom. An exiled princess takes the help of seven resourceful rebels to win back her birthright.

The film is based on the classic fairytale "Snow White" by the Brothers Grimm. Roberts says she was impressed after hearing Singh's take on "Snow White".

"I am such a fan of Tarsem, I thought, 'Okay, well, I'd love to meet him. And if I have to go and sit and hear him talk about 'Snow White' for an hour and then just talk about other things, then that's what we'll do.'

"And he had such a great take on it and he had such a vibrant personality. I read the script that he had and I was really taken and really surprised and suddenly thought, 'Oh, wait a minute, this is all coming together in this unexpected way,'" she said.

The film boasts of elaborate sets and costumes, which left the 44-year-old 'Pretty Woman' mesmerised.

"Well, they're stunning and I really think they are such an integral part of the film and the characters. It's the same as having these amazing sets, being in these kinds of clothes. They were completely original and authentic to what we were trying to accomplish," said Roberts.

For her role of the evil queen, Roberts has been made to wear massive gowns.

"As Tarsem would say, in these great, huge spaces, we needed to fill them in every way and physically really dominate these spaces. So they had to be quite architectural and, in that, not terribly cozy," she added.

Her make-up is not particularly over-the-top, unlike other evil characters in showbiz.

"I don't look particularly good in big purple eye shadow with a Dracula collar. We wanted to go a different route with the Evil Queen's look. I think people like variations on things," said Roberts, who started her Hollywood career with the 1987 film "Firehouse".

She rose to fame after playing the lead in the 1990 romantic comedy "Pretty Woman". She won the Academy Award for best actress in 2001 for her performance in "Erin Brockovich".

Among other noted films of Roberts are "My Best Friend's Wedding", "Mystic Pizza", "Notting Hill", "Runaway Bride", "Valentine's Day", "Ocean's Eleven" and "Ocean's Twelve".