Julia Roberts Plays Evil Queen In 'Mirror, Mirror'

Julia Roberts, often referred to as one of America's rom-com sweethearts, may not be the first name that comes to mind when you think "evil queen," but that's why it's called acting. Roberts plays the wicked stepmother to Lily Collins' Snow White (Lily is the daughter of music legend Phil Collins) in Tarsem Singh's Mirror, Mirror, the first of two films to be released this year that are based on the famous fairy tale. In the other — Snow White & The Huntsman — fellow Oscar winner Charlize Theron plays the queen.

While some may be mystified as to why two Snow White movies should be released in such close proximity, Roberts offers an explanation. "Movies are like the ark: They come out in twos. They always have. Capote movies, Freaky Friday movies, there's always two," Roberts told USA Today, before explaining the difference between Mirror, Mirror's comedic take and the action-packed Huntsman. "In their movie, the Huntsman is played by Thor (Chris Hemsworth), and in our movie, the Huntsman in played by Nathan Lane," she said.

Roberts said bringing in Lane made a world of a difference. "Once we brought Nathan Lane in as my right-hand man, that gave me a lot more liberty to take it to a place of just madness, to make her sort of crazy and mad and obsessed and driven and never leaves the castle," she said. "So I think she's gone kind of crazy, 18 years of obsessing over this person. Tarsem just let us run wild and come up with crazy things."

Mirror, Mirror, which also stars Armie Hammer, opens Friday.

Watch the trailer here: