STACK #147 Jan 2017

FEATURE DVD&BD

Eva Green's exotic beauty makes her a natural for roles that lean towards the dark side...

300: Rise of an Empire As Artemesia, the beautiful and ruthless commander of the Persian naval fleet, Green is the reason this sequel is better than the original.

“They’re masters of their craft, and many have been working with him for decades. As a film nerd, of course I knew about Colleen Atwood, the Oscar-winning costume designer, and Bruno Delbonnel, the cinematographer, who has shot some of the most beautiful looking movies of the last two decades, and on and on. To watch these people giving their all to bring my little book to life was indescribable. What an honour. And watching them on set that first time, that’s what made it start to seem real.” Riggs’s visit to the modest set in Florida brought back memories of his own time at film school. “You would shoot in a friend’s parent’s house, and do your best to cram cameras and lights and crew and actors into a little bedroom – except there was this massive team of legendary craftsmen and Hollywood actors and Tim Burton running around with wild hair and dark glasses, Tim Burton-ing,” he laughs. “It was insane.”

I was drawn to strange images, just as I’m drawn to strange stories

sinister Mr. Barron.

“It was very strange,” he laughs. “I’ve had the experience, on a small scale, of casting actors to play characters I’ve written, but this was such a different calibre. It was, ‘here comes Sam Jackson and Judi Dench and Asa Butterfield…’ these people I knew. “Eva Green is a great choice as Miss Peregrine,” he notes. “She seems to be channelling Katharine Hepburn at times – if you crossed Katharine Hepburn with a bird! She has an incredible gravitas you wouldn’t necessarily expect from someone as young as she is. It’s perfect for the character. “I think a lot of people read the book and thought Miss Peregrine was older than she really is. But she’s not. There are photos of her in the book – she’s not old, but she has the authority and maturity of an older person, which is appropriate since she is hundreds of years old.” Riggs also visited the set to see Burton and his cast at work. “It was mind blowing to meet him and watch him work, and to watch the amazing people he collaborates with work,” he recalls.

Dark Shadows In her first collaboration with Tim Burton, a blonde Green stole the show from Johnny Depp's vampire as the wicked witch Angelique Bouchard.

Penny Dreadful Green's tormented psychic Vanessa Ives was the soul of Showtime's ambitious and stylish mash-up of classic literary horror characters.

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For As the manipulative femme fatale of the title, Ava Lord, Green was the best thing about this disappointing sequel to the Frank Miller cult favourite.

• Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is out on Jan 4

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