Twilight star Kristen Stewart may not be the most obvious actress audiences think of to play the classic fairy tale princess Snow White. But, of course, the young actress’ experience and talent go far beyond her days as Bella Swan.
When she made her debut in the first of the Stephenie Meyer-written book adaptations, it wasn’t uncommon to hear people realize, ‘Oh, that’s the girl who played Jodie Foster’s daughter in Panic Room!” From that 2002 movie, one of her first, to others including Cold Creek Manor with Dennis Quaid and Sharon Stone, the little-seen indie The Cake Eaters where she was praised for her “tough, strong performance” as a teen with a degenerative disease who wants to have sex before she dies, and the more recent The Runaways where she played rock legend Joan Jett with great conviction and confidence, Stewart has proven she has the intuition, intelligence and talent to bring this Snow White to life.
In this telling of the story, Stewart boldly embodies the sensitive, compassionate, one-with-nature beauty we know from Disney’s version of the tale, but also in her manifests a fighting, burning desire to reclaim her father’s kingdom, to lead her people through this dark period and destroy the evil that is Charlize Theron’s Queen Ravenna that plays out in a spectacular, action-packed way.
In this feature, Stewart explains why she connected so deeply with this character and why she loves playing this “badass.”
Of course Snow White is nothing without her dwarves, who, in this case, actually total eight. The band of not-so-merry misfits banished to the Dark Forest aren’t quite what they seem when they first encounter the princess, but as the actors who play them – Bob Hoskins, Ian McShane, Ray Winstone, Nick Frost, Eddie Marsan, Toby Jones, Johnny Harris and Brian Gleeson – reveal, there’s more to them than meets the eye.
Snow White and the Huntsman, directed by Rupert Sanders in his feature film debut, also stars Chris Hemsworth, Sam Claflin and Sam Spruell. The movie is rated PG-13 and runs 127 minutes.
