‘Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children’ Director Tim Burton Introduces New Muse; Eva Green Calls Character “Dark Mary Poppins”

‘Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children’ director Tim Burton expressed his admiration for Eva Green during a recent interview. Meanwhile, Green related her lead protagonist as a “dark Mary Poppins”.

Burton talked about his newest leading lady during an interview with W Magazine. He said, “Eva was not instantly knowable. There was something private and mysterious about her, and that’s not common in this day and age. People think she’s ‘dark,’ but she’s more interesting than that. People assume I’m dark too, but I’m really not… Eva faces the same dilemma. We share a complicated way of looking at things. We both have an interest in the unusual.”

It was reported that Green always wanted to work with the 57-year old filmmaker since she was a child. She admitted that she had always been a geeky student who was not popular in school.

The French actress began her career in theater and made her film debut in  Bernardo Bertolucci’s controversial 2003 film ‘The Dreamers’, where she had to strip naked for much of the film. She recalled, “It is very paradoxical… I am so shy, and, at the same time, I kind of expose myself literally to thousands of people. I don’t really understand why I do that. I need to go through therapy!”

She eventually gained international fame after being cast in Ridley Scott’s 2005 historical epic film ‘Kingdom of Heaven’. She was then thrust further into Hollywood celebrity status for portraying Bond girl Vesper Lynd in 2006’s ‘Casino Royale’, where she was won a BAFTA Award for Rising Star and an Empire Award for Best Female Newcomer. She also portrayed Artemisia in 2014’s ‘300: Rise of an Empire’.

According to Esquire, Green finally achieved her dream of working with Burton after being cast as the witch Angelique Bouchard on the horror-comedy film ‘Dark Shadows’ alongside Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Helena Bonham Carter. The film performed poorly in the domestic market but did well in foreign markets. It earned $245.52 million worldwide against a $150 million budget.

A source revealed that Burton considered Green his new muse following unfounded reports that the two were romantically involved. Green is set to portray the titular Miss Peregrine in Burton’s upcoming film based on the novel of the same name authored by Ransom Riggs.

According to ET Canada, the 35-year old actress compared her character to a darker version of Mary Poppins. She said, “She has the ability to manipulate time and uses her powers to protect the children. Miss Peregrine will kill for them. And she does! Which was fun.”

Burton added, “People want the kids to have superpowers, but these are kids who have afflictions… That’s why I loved the book. These kids feel different rather than ‘super,’ and the movie speaks to that difference… There was only one person I could see in that role.”

‘Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children’ is an upcoming fantasy-adventure film scheduled to premiere on September 30, 2016.