In a new interview, Once Upon a Time actress Lana Parrilla reveals her villainous influences for playing Regina.

Speaking to Attention Deficit Delirium, Parrilla reveals that her main influence for Regina is Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction:

When I was working on Regina, I watched that. I don’t know why, but her face kept popping into my mind and I kept seeing the movie flash before my eyes. That’s when I realized that Regina is a sociopath. I don’t know if the writers see it this way. This is a collaborative art, so this is my take on these characters, but I learned it from watching that movie that all her behaviors are not understood nor should they be because I’m not crazy like that.

She goes into more detail about how her character is similar to Glenn Close’s, describing Alex’s struggle in the film:

[Dan Gallagher] did bring her in and was just as committed in that weekend of having that experience and loving her as deeply as he did and connecting with her on an intimate level, letting himself go. That brought her in, and she fell in love with him in that short amount of time. I can get carried away and talk about this for way too long, but I understand her behaviors. I understand the Evil Queen and why she hates Snow White as much as she does. I get why she wants to destroy this woman’s life. I’m not saying I would do it — obviously I would not, I leave that to the higher powers that be — but I get it.

Read the full interview, where Parrilla discusses other classic villains like Freddy Krueger and Jack Nicholson in The Shining, on Attention Deficit Delirium.