Eva Green covers the May issue of Madame Figaro, and for whatever reason, the styling is pretty awful. Generally speaking, Eva is a blazingly gorgeous lady, but this short, tousled, yellow-blonde wig does nothing for her complexion and washes her out completely. She looks good as a blonde though in the Dark Shadows trailer (as batsh-t crazy witch Angelique), so I’m not quite sure what’s going on here. Anyway, Eva has also recently been the subject of discussion involving Johnny Depp’s blossoming mid-life crisis, and it’s been speculated that Vanessa Paradis worries that Johnny may have fallen for Eva while they worked together on this latest Tim Burton film. While we don’t have any excerpts from the Madame Figaro story, these are lovely photos, and here are some excerpts from a new interview that Eva did with Yahoo, in which she discusses working with Tim, Johnny, and what she perceives as her own enduring insecurity:

On her twisted characters, including in Dark Shadows: “It seems to be my destiny. I can’t get away from it. But this character is one of the best roles I’ve ever played. I got f#@*ing lucky with this film and being able to work with Tim Burton who is such a genius. My favourite film of all time is Beetlejuice and growing up I would always watch that film whenever I was sad. So playing Angelique is like a gift from Heaven.

On working with Johnny Depp: “Johnny has an unbelievable gift for comedy and being able to create this impression of being lost and confused in this beautiful way. There’s this strange innocence and naivity to the way he was able to play Barnabas and it was so interesting to work with him.”

On her impenetrable stage image: “I’m very shy. As a child, I was happiest when it would rain because I could hide behind an umbrella. I also had a terrible time in school because I was so shy and fearful of everything. Even though I’ve worked on quite a few films now and met so many people I still have this chronic sense of insecurity in certain social situations. It’s a dilemma for me. I think I have a good sense of humour and I love to laugh, but I have to be in a situation where I can relax for that side of me to come out. I tend to retreat into my own little world and go to the same places and see the same friends. I often feel like I don’t really belong anywhere. I sometimes think I’m like a ghost who’s wandering around and unable to connect with the world.”

Acting helps the shyness: “I’ve often found it therapeutic to play strong or extreme characters because it helps me become more assertive in my own life. Acting has helped me a lot. I’ve learnt a great deal about myself by exploring different characters and looking deeply inside my own nature and personality. But it’s a strange occupation. You have to be very tough and persistent to succeed in the film world, but when you arrive on the set, you need to be completely vulnerable and let all your emotions flow into your character. I still feel fragile in many ways.”

On fashion: “I have a playful sense when it comes to fashion. I’m not afraid to dress wildly when I’m promoting a film or at a public event. But in real life I dress very badly, like a nerd. I wear black all the time or walk around my flat in my sweatpants. But when I go out I like to be adventurous and be a little more bold. It gives me more confidence.”

On her nude scenes in Dreamers: “People made such a fuss when The Dreamers came out. Sex was a theme, but there was more to it. I remember that the nudity and sex was the only thing the journalists wanted to talk about at the time even though that was only one aspect to a much broader theme of liberation and rebellion. And then I saw a lot of pictures of me naked [on the Internet] – oh my God. This was terrible. I love the movie, but now I know that if I do a nude scene that people will talk about it. I always feel like I have to prove myself. I want to be taken seriously. I was so honoured to have had the chance to be part of a Bertolucci movie. It was a wonderful atmosphere. The other actors Louis (Garrel) and Michael (Pitt) and I would go to his house every weekend where he would talk to us about cinema for hours and hours.”

[From Yahoo! OMG!]

I think Eva is immensely talented, and if there’s any working actress in Hollywood that I’d love exchange looks with, it would definitely be her. Still, I find it odd that Eva claims to be so cripplingly shy. She sure hides it well, right?

As for those rumors of Johnny and Eva getting it on together, I don’t know … Eva seems to be very professional, and I’m not sure that she’d go there, especially since Johnny’s not really a physical prize these days. I also feel that Eva could do so much better than douchey Johnny. But you never know.

Now back to this Madame Figaro photo shoot. These pictures (especially the black and white ones) are rather stunning, but I’ve seen Eva look so much better than this. Quite frankly, I blame the wig.

Photos courtesy of Madame Figaro and EvaGreenWeb