Charlize Theron used The Shining for inspiration

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 12:47p.m.

Charlize Theron drew inspiration from Jack Nicholson's crazed character in The Shining to play the Evil Queen in her highly-anticipated movie Snow White and the Huntsman.

The actress turns bad to play the malevolent monarch in the high-action take on the classic fairytale opposite Twilight star Kristen Stewart as the banished princess.

Theron's Evil Queen is obsessed with beauty, and sucks the life of her pretty rivals to stay young - and Theron reveals she looked back at Nicholson's maniacal turn as writer/caretaker Jack Torrance, who descends into madness while looking after an isolated hotel, in a bid to get to grips with the part.

She tells LA Confidential Magazine, "This (film) has been a great sandbox to play in - huge sets and great costumes, and yet very grounded material. There was definitely something (about the character) that always reminded me of Jack Nicholson in The Shining.

"I played with the idea of that cabin fever, being stuck in a castle, and slowly losing your mind, your obsessions eating you up, and becoming capable of doing something you didn't necessarily think you would be capable of."

WENN.com