Amy Adams owes her acting career to being a redhead.

Amy Adams

Amy Adams

The 42-year-old actress - who is married to actor Darren Le Gallo - first coloured her hair from strawberry blonde to dark red in 2004 for her role in TV show 'Dr. Vegas' and she has been given more "fun" roles ever since.

Speaking at the New York Times' TimesTalk event on Wednesday (09.11.16) she shared: "Based on roles that I was getting, called in for, people were responding to certain types of characters with me as a blonde and the minute I went red, it was quirky and fun instead of flirtatious and dumb".

The 'American Hustle' star previously revealed it wasn't completely her choice to have a dramatic colour change, as she was told that either herself or her 'Dr. Vegas' co-star Sarah Lancaster would have to dye their hair for the show, which aired in 2004.

She said: "I played a nurse and there was this beautiful blonde, Sarah Lancaster, who was cast as the casino dealer.

"I'm in a room with her, and they said, 'Someone's going to have to change their hair colour.'

"She's tan with these beautiful lioness green eyes and this mane of blonde hair.

"And I looked at her and me, with my pale freckles, and thought, Gee, I wonder which one of us is going to go red!".

Although the actress has since returned to strawberry blonde she has no regrets and says it has been a "powerful tool" for her career.

She said: "It was great, I liked that. But in all seriousness, it's just hair colour. It was really fascinating to see just one element of yourself change people's perception and that became a very powerful tool for me even in my acting."


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