Rebecca Hall: "Actresses need to be dangerous and ugly"

British actress Rebecca Hall has told 'The Times' newspaper that, growing up, she never thought she was beautiful enough to be a movie actress. By age 11 she was 5ft 10in.

"I think in my darkest moments I thought I probably wouldn't work in film because I was a bit too tall and looked like a horse."

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Hall points out that Dr Maya Hansen - the character she plays in 'Iron Man 3' - is not your typical action-hero's love interest. And she rejoices that the two female characters in the movie don't end up in a cat-fight over the leading man.

"One of the things that appealed to me most about this was that in the couple of scenes I had with Gwyneth [Paltrow], there was this parity and wit and understanding between them, which I thought was much more interesting and honest and smart."

'Iron Man 3' is out now