No, Michelle Pfeiffer didn't retire from acting, but you can't fault moviegoers for thinking she did. The popular actress hasn't been heard (let alone seen) in theaters since 2003's "Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas." Now she's back with two devilishly fun roles for the summer: the conniving TV producer, Velma Von Tussle, in the movie musical "Hairspray" and the evil witch, Lamia, in the fantasy "Stardust." Thanks to some overly blunt remarks from an international reporter, though, her return hasn't been entirely pleasant.

"Yesterday I was [speaking to] the Hollywood Foreign Press," Pfeiffer says. "One of the women said to me, 'So now that you have this old and decrepit body.' She had a heavy accent so I thought she really didn't say that. I said, 'Excuse me, did you just say I had an old and decrepit body?'"

In actuality, at the age of 49, Pfeiffer is a stunner, but it was her memorable, over-the-top turn as Catwoman in "Batman Returns" that inspired the directors of both "Hairspray" and "Stardust" to cast her. She was quickly reminded on "Hairspray" that finding a happy medium between reality and camp can be difficult.

"I'm afraid of falling into doing a character like this [and then] chewing up the scenery," Pfeiffer says. "[After a take, 'Hairspray' director Adam Shankman] would say, 'Is that a piece of the chair leg in-between your teeth?' It is not reality, but you also have to stay rooted in some kind of reality. I was constantly walking that tightrope."

Pfeiffer hadn't sung on-screen since her Oscar-nominated performance in 1989's "The Fabulous Baker Boys," so the opportunity to sing again in "Hairspray" was an added bonus. She enjoyed the recording studio so much she claims they had to kick her out when her songs were locked. Yet, while discussing "Stardust," Pfeiffer's face really lights up. She couldn't stop praising the movie, saying, "It is a little bit of this, a little bit of that, and some how it all works together."

She's played bad girls before, but the witchy Lamia from "Stardust" was truly evil.

"I go from my age to 5,000 years old, back to my age, back to 5,000 years old," Pfeiffer says. "I am after eternal youth, and I'll do anything to get it. I am the bad guy. There are a number of them. There are two good guys, and everyone else is bad now that I think about it."

The numerous age changes meant Pfeiffer had to endure extensive prosthetic makeup for the first time in her career. She rolls her eyes when recalling the experience, describing it as "hell." In fact, her experience was so bad the producers of "Hairspray" insisted she not discuss it with co-star John Travolta before he began a similar process to play the female role of Edna Turnblad.

"They didn't want me to scare him. They didn't want me stirring up trouble," Pfeiffer says with a wink. "As it turns out, John had done his research, which I did not. And he spoke with other actors who had worn prosthetics -- I did not. When they were working out the schedule, he made it so it was as comfortable as possible for himself."

The best news from Pfeiffer though is that her fans won't have to suffer through another extended Pfeiffer absence from the big screen. She has some new projects around the corner and promises, "I won't wait four years. Let's just put it that way."

"Hairspray" opens nationwide July 20. "Stardust" opens nationwide Aug. 10.

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