'Snow White' Director Tarsem Singh Talks Costumes, Lily Collins

'Everything's in snow, but the costumes are very colorful,' he tells MTV News.
By Eric Ditzian, with reporting by Josh Horowitz

Lily Collins
Photo: John Shearer/ WireImage

Two cinematic reimaginings of Snow White are currently in the works, but lest you think both are going to turn out more or less the same, simply listen to how director Tarsem Singh conceives of his film's look.

"It's actually like if you looked at Gaudi's architecture, based in England, done like a turn-of-the-century Russian film by an Indian guy," he told MTV News.

Right. We're guessing that the competing Snow White tale — from Rupert Sanders, making his directorial debut after a string of hyper-stylized TV commercials — isn't going to encroach on Tarsem's territory, and that's just the way he wants it.

"There's a brown guy telling you a Snow White tale to white people. Just by definition, when you put different ingredients, you get a different stew," he said.

His yet-untitled film stars Julia Roberts as the evil queen, Armie Hammer ("The Social Network") as the handsome prince and, after being cast earlier this month, Lily Collins ("The Blind Side") as Snow White herself. Why Collins, a relative unknown whose profile is on the rise after being cast in the adaptation of the "Mortal Instruments" young adult book series?

"Her eyebrows," Tarsem joked. "I just saw her eyebrows and I said, 'That's Snow White.' "

With the key players in place, the filmmakers are busy building sets and designing costumes. True to Tarsem's earlier work, like "The Cell" and the forthcoming "Immortals," the new Snow White film will dress its cast in some eye-popping garb.

"Everything's in snow, but the costumes are very colorful. It's like no color, then a lot of color," Tarsem said. "I never know how actors give you all the trust, because the stuff that I make people wear does not look ridiculous — it looks ridiculous."

Check out everything we've got on "Snow White."

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