Michelle Pfeiffer: Wife Of Moses

It's not unusual for a film to be based on a book. But when that book is the Bible, people pay a little more attention. Actress Michelle Pfeiffer talks with CBS This Morning Contributor Eleanor Mondale about her role in the new animated film The Prince of Egypt.

DreamWorks' new feature tells the epic story of Moses.

"It's very universal and timeless, and people overcoming odds, and staying true to what they believe in against all kinds of adversity, and risking your life for that," says Pfeiffer, who provides the voice of Tzipporah, the wife of Moses.

"She's got a lot of integrity," says Pfeiffer. "She's very strong, and she's very feisty and very willful, and really supports Moses in his journey. I made the mistake earlier of saying that behind every good man, there is a good woman. Someone corrected me: beside every good manÂ…"

Mondale points out that Tzipporah, as presented in The Prince of Egypt, is surprisingly modern in her attitude.

Pfeiffer says. "I mean, not any that I'm familiar with, anyway."

Mondale asked her if it is odd to hear her voice coming out of an animated character.

Moses and Tzipporah (DreamWorks SKG)

Shortly before she married TV producer David Kelley in 1993, Pfeiffer, 41, adopted a baby girl, Claudia Rose. With Kelley, she also has a son, John Henry. Her previous marriage, to actor Peter Horton, ended in divorce.

Her career in show business began after she won a local beauty contest in Santa Ana, Calif., where she had been working as a supermarket cashier. She started in TV commercials, and then landed a regular role on the short-lived sitcom Delta House (1979).

She has been nominated three times for an Academy Award, for her work in Dangerous Liaisons (1988), The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989), and Love Field (1992).

Her other film credits include One Fine Day (1996), The Age of Innocence (1993), Frankie and Johnny (1991), Married to the Mob (1988), The Witches of Eastwick (1987), and Scarface (1983).