'Tangled' helmer: 'Moore is like Rapunzel'

Tangled director Nathan Greno has compared Mandy Moore to her animated character Rapunzel in the Disney film.

Greno told Digital Spy that he and co-director Byron Howard were initially resistant to casting a celebrity to voice the princess trapped in her mother's tower.

"It shouldn't be about a big name or something like that," he said. "We were developing the story and the characters and we had an idea of what we wanted and we were seeing all of those people for Rapunzel."

Moore reportedly beat 300 other actresses to the part after the directors were impressed by her audition.

"It's a real special skillset you need to be able to act in one of these films. You're not on a set, you're not with another actor," Greno commented, adding that Moore shares similarities with the fictional character.

"She's so charming and pleasant and nice, but kind of quirky and funny," he said. "There's this whole action side to her. When we were in Australia she dove out of a plane. It was the third time she'd done skydiving. Really, that's Rapunzel."

More Tangled:-
> Interview: Mandy Moore
> Interview: Zachary Levi
> Tangled review