Amy Adams says she always wanted to work with 'Big Eyes' director Tim Burton

NEW YORK, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Amy Adams says she actively lobbied for the role of artist Margaret Keane in director Tim Burton's upcoming biopic Big Eyes.

"I have been wanting to work with Tim forever; since I could think about being an actress," Adams declared at a recent press conference in New York.

"Like Margaret, I'm not really a great self-promotion expert," the actress explained. "Mostly, I just stutter when I meet people I want to work with. So, luckily, that worked with Tim. I wrote him a letter when I heard about this and that it was coming back around [after years in development.] I sent him an email, expressing my wishes to be involved. It was awesome. I was so relaxed on set, which I don't feel I should have been. But I felt like I was part of something bigger than just what I was playing, and that was a really great feeling."

Co-starring Christoph Waltz, Jason Schwartzman, Krysten Ritter and Danny Huston, Big Eyes is to open in U.S. theaters Christmas Day.