Brittany Snow in Hairspray Courtesy of New Line Cinema

I think you are the quintessential Amber Von Tussle in Hairspray. How much fun was that project, and how much do you learn from an experience like that? Working so closely with Michelle Pfeiffer?
It was such a good experience. It was a challenging thing to do just because of how long the shoot was. We were in Canada for six months. There [were] two months of rehearsal and then four months of shooting, so we were up there for a long time. We shot in Toronto, and it was a very intense working schedule. It was almost like we were preparing for a Broadway play. We had dance rehearsal, we had singing rehearsal, we had acting. It was like this part boot camp to make sure everyone knew all the dances, but at the same time it was like summer camp. [We] bonded a lot. I made some of my best friends on that movie. And then also it was so much getting to work with these icons who I had looked up to my entire life and was shaking to even be part of a movie with them.

Getting to meet Michelle and work with her and getting to know her as person and everything that she stands for... I respect [her] so much, because she's really one of the greatest people — just in terms of her choices for her career and her life. More than that, I took from that experience a role model that I always want to look up to. As far as the character goes, I wanted to badly to make it like a little clone of Michelle, and so I constantly was watching Michelle. It sounds really creepy, and she was maybe a little bit freaked out. But I watched her and I wanted to emulate her movements and the way she carried herself.

Meg Ryan, Natalie Portman, and Reese Witherspoon. These are some of the actresses you admire. Do you try to search out projects with people you admire?
Yeah, definitely. I always look at the cast [in terms of if it will be] a good thing that I want to be part of or people that I wanted to learn from or people who I think are talented. I don't really base any decisions for projects on personalities. But I want to be part of project that I am proud of and good people are doing.

So it seems like you are moving away from the light romantic comedies toward darker, meatier roles...
It wasn't ever a conscious choice to move away from the fluffy roles, I guess. I just find that as I am growing up and changing and experiencing new things, I crave different things than I used to. I want to do things where I can learn about myself and I can really challenge myself, because that is when I find it to be the most fulfilling. I [like it] when I am a little bit scared when I get to work, and then I do it and I have that high after I leave the set when [I feel] that really resonated with me on some level.

I am very interested in your two upcoming projects. The Vicious Kind with J.K. Simmons seems like a Thanksgiving comedy.
Kind of. It is a drama-comedy. It is way more dramatic than a comedy, but it is a little funny, I guess.

And Black Water Transit seems darker, with lawyers, cops, and criminals.
It is definitely not a comedy. It is a movie by Tony Kaye, [who] is the director of American History X. It is a very experimental art piece movie. You can't describe it because it is so what you would see in a dream. Tony Kaye's vision and what is in his mind can never be described. It is like if you were to put A Clockwork Orange, The Wizard of Oz, Natural Born Killers, and maybe Requiem for a Dream and put it on [LSD]. You cannot do a single drug or a drink or even be tired when you watch this movie, because it will mess with everything you have ever known. It is so intense.