Top Eva Green Performances
Eva Green turned heads in Bernardo Bertolucci's The Dreamers before establishing super stardom thanks to her portrayal of Bond Girl Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale. We check out her performances...
This year has become Eva Green’s year, and is certainly one for the history books. In March, the French actress was seen in plate-mail playing the vengeful Persian warrior-queen Artemisia in the action hit 300: Rise of an Empire. Then, in late April, she popped up in Showtime’s Penny Dreadful, which has recently been renewed for a second season, where she traded in the armour and swords for frocks and black lace as Vanessa Ives, an enigmatic Victorian prone to demonic possession. Then in August, Green caps her run of titillating period pieces with the release of the crime noir sequel Sin City 2: A Dame To Kill For, in which she portrays the dangerous siren Ava Lord.
With both the upcoming White Bird in a Blizzard and The Salvation arriving in October, 2014 has, coincidentally or not, been a renaissance for the 33-year-old. Strength, astounding beauty and vulnerability play a part in each of her roles; perhaps that’s why so many fell for Eva Green in Casino Royale for which she won the BAFTA for Best Rising Star. But she’d already made us weak at the knees with a risqué performance in her debut, The Dreamers, and we had seen her tough side in Kingdom Of Heaven’s Sibylla. Green has also proved the best thing in movies or TV shows that don’t necessarily work, dominating Camelot and chewing the scenery and “out-weirding” Johnny Depp in Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows. Who knew that was possible?
Kingdom Of Heaven: Director’s Cut (Ridley Scott, 2005)
The theatrical cut of Ridley’s Scott’s crusades epic, Kingdom of Heaven, in which Green plays Middle Eastern Princess Sibylla, was confusing, incoherent and noisy. The more finely etched director’s cut, available on DVD and blu-ray, is an impressive and beautifully felt epic that generously fleshes out Green’s role, allowing us to see the full berth of Sibylla’s slow descent into madness. In theatres, Kingdom of Heaven wasn’t much to write home about, but if you find Scott’s original cut you’ll have one of Green’s best films.
Cracks (Jordan Scott, 2009)
In Cracks, Eva Green plays a nonconformist teacher at a girls’ boarding school in 1930s Britain, and is considered an outsider among her colleagues but yet her pupils adore her. When a Spanish student, Fiamma, arrives, Green’s Miss G becomes dangerously fascinated with her, sparking uncontrollable jealousy among the pupils. Here, Green is utterly compelling as Miss G, playing someone who’s trying to hide her inner cracks by putting on this confidant façade for her pupils. But, when she yearns a desire for Fiamma, we learn that she’s driven by a longing to repair her own damaged and fearful self.
Camelot (Various, 2011)
Although Starz’s dark, gritty and adult take on the legend of King Arthur was met with a lukewarm reception, there were some redeeming features to be found, and Eva Green as the villainous main antagonist, Morgan, was definitely the bright spot in the series. Green’s scene-stealing performance made you want to fall in love with evil, and she’s deliciously nasty without being too overwhelming.
