WATCH: The return of Charlize Theron’s beautiful baddie, Queen Ravenna

Zach Lucero

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WATCH: The return of Charlize Theron’s beautiful baddie, Queen Ravenna
'I think she's a bit of a lost cause,' Charlize says about her character, the unapologetically evil Queen Ravenna

SINGAPORE – In The Huntsman: Winter’s War, we take a look back to the events before 2012’s Snow White and the Huntsman and revisit the characters we met back then – chief among them, Charlize Theron’s baddie, Queen Ravenna. (WATCH: Chris Hemsworth, Jessica Chastain talk betrayal and second chances)  

For fans, it will be great to see the unapologetic villain back on screen, the welcome return of the coldly beautiful queen – capable of many unspeakable acts to retain power, yet hiding a painful and conflict-ridden past. 

The two films explore this past and examine Ravenna’s fate. Winter’s War introduces a new character, the ice queen Freya (Emily Blunt), Ravenna’s younger sister, and along with it, a new dimension to Ravenna’s character. 

When I talked with Charlize at a recent media event in Singapore, she wore a serious tone throughout. She takes the issues tackled in the film seriously, somehow transforming her thoughts and experiences into an effective anchor to hold in place the very complex, very evil persona of Queen Ravenna.

She talked about how Ravenna’s deep-seated conflicts about beauty are far from an issue of simple vanity. She was raised in a world where this beauty was of highest value. “And so, it doesn’t just become about the vanity of beauty, it really becomes about the need and the greed for power,” she said.

“I think seeing her set up that way kind of explains a woman that had been brutalized as a young girl and made to believe that the world works one way – and that is that men will use you, and they’ll spit you out if you can’t maintain this youthful beauty. That is the ultimate power for a woman.” Ravenna carries this with her throughout her life. But unlike us mere mortals, she is of a magical world that manifests these conflicts in fantastic and terrifying ways. 

 

Just how can one become an effective supervillain on screen? Is Ravenna beyond redemption?

 

“I don’t know if that’s gonna happen for her! I think she’s a bit of a lost cause. I think… It feels like – you know – squeezing the last drops out of the ketchup bottle. I don’t think that’s gonna happen. I think she really is who she is,” Charlize told me. 

“And I also think humans – you know, even though she’s a magical creature… I don’t think we change that much in our life. I think there are small increments of change, but I don’t think somebody like her is ever gonna be at a place… I may be totally wrong. There might be a third installment where she’s like the owner of 500 puppies and 4 cats, and she’s like very loving. I don’t know.” 

I also spoke to Charlize’s co-stars Chris Hemsworth and Jessica Chastain – watch their video here, where they talk about the themes of forgiveness and second chances, plus what it’s like to work with fellow A-list actors Emily Blunt and of course, Charlize. 

 

Watch the videos above and catch The Huntsman: Winter’s War in theaters April 13. – Rappler.com

 

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