Article + Pics #SWATH Panel at #WonderCon Thanks @HisGoldenEyes

This article was written by HisGoldenEyes staffer Amy who attended WonderCon. 

At the SWATH panel Kristen Stewart (Snow White) and Charlize Theron (Queen Raveena) made a surprise appearance at WonderCon in Anaheim, Calif., joining director Rupert Sanders on stage to discuss “Snow White and the Huntsman” during the Universal Pictures presentation. After Theron made an unscheduled appearance at the “Prometheus” panel right before “SWATH,” hope was in the air that she would come back out. When two seats were placed on stage for cast members, we sat there in anticipation waiting to see if it was Kristen Stewart or Chris Hemsworth. While I wouldn’t have been upset if it was the mighty Thor Huntsman, I was thrilled when Kristen’s name was announced. When discussing the film, Sanders said that he wanted to make this film a universal story for a male and female audience. Sanders also spoke for the missing cast member, Hemsworth, noting that his performance is particularly emotional and that it could make men cry. On Stewart’s performance as Snow White he said that she is explosive keeping up with the men and knocking out a lot of guys. The knocking out we got to see on screen. A five minute montage of footage from the film was shown to the WonderCon audience and it was incredible. While some moments were familiar from the trailer, there was definitely new material. It began with a battle between the Queen’s army and the King’s soldiers.

Followed by Snow White’s escape from the Queen’s dungeon including alluding guards by slipping into a drain to escape; then jumping off a ledge into the ocean to flee before making her way into the dark forest. The Huntsman is brought before the Queen because he is familiar with the forest, but the Huntsman is quick to warn that if Snow White is in the forest than she is already dead. He is sent out to find the lost princess and when he finds Snow White she proceeds to teach him a lesson with her fist. Snow White and the Huntsman are shown captured by the dwarves and hanging upside down as the dwarves’ prisoners. 

The dwarves are plotting ways to kill them when they find out that she is the daughter of the king. When with the dwarves, we see Snow White in a beautiful area called the Sanctuary, where it looks like she is in touch with nature and the creatures of the forest in the traditional sense of Snow White. 

Theron and Stewart both talked about how everyone has an idea of who their characters are based on what they already know about the fairy tale. Theron specifically noted that everyone has an idea of her and there is something nice about “f—ing with her.” For Snow White, Stewart said the story and her character are in between what we expect. Stewart said she had to jump of cliffs and ride horses, but noted that she personally hates that stuff. When asked about horseback riding experience she told the audience that she had fallen off a horse when she was nine and had dislocated her shoulder. She also remarked though that it was awesome to play a “badass,” and that she loves Snow White’s drive. Stewart mentioned that she has always wanted to do an action movie and said that she is most proud about the way the movie was directed, observing that everything she wanted Snow White to be is there. When asked about the difference between “Twilight” and “SWATH,” Stewart said “Twilight” was a very extended part of her live and she loved that character (Bella). Her hope was that “SWATH” has a similar impact. Theron definitely was excited about playing the Evil Queen. With her recent stint as the neurotic and troublemaking Mavis in “Young Adult” and now this character, an audience member asked her how she plays evil so well to which Theron stated that she is going through her “Bitch period.” Theron said in the end that it was so much fun and that as a group they got to play and put on crowns and scream at people.

 

On a lighter note, when Sanders was asked why he didn’t cast little people in the film, he joked that it was because they were all in (Tarsem) Singh’s movie (“Mirror, Mirror”). 
He then said that he wanted to work with these British actors (Ian McShane, Bob Hoskins, Toby Jones and others) known for gangster roles with a different movie in mind, but when it came time to film “SWATH” they were available. The footage from the film as well as the discussion with the actors and director really help give the audience and idea of what this film is going to be and the word I would use is “epic.” I had my doubts about a film that the creative team was comparing to “Lord of the Rings” at last July’s Comic-Con panel before filming even began. Having seen the footage today and listening to how these famous characters have been conceived and developed for this project, I have a lot more faith that this could be something truly worthy of “Lord of the Rings” comparisons when it comes to the scope of this impressive looking film. Source