With “Penny Dreadful” now streaming on Prime Video, there's no better opportunity to revisit Eva Green—unquestionably one of the most captivating women to haunt modern cinema. From the foggy streets of Victorian London to the edges of supernatural storytelling, the French actress has enthralled audiences and critics alike. But does her turn as Vanessa Ives stand as her most unforgettable?
Penny Dreadful: Eva Green’s Spellbinding Transformation
Created by screenwriter John Logan (“The Last Samurai,” “Skyfall”), the fantasy series “Penny Dreadful” gave Eva Green one of her most memorable roles: medium Vanessa Ives. Pursued by the Devil and confronting demons and werewolves in early nineteenth-century London, Ives is the kind of dark, troubled character that seems made for Green.
This role was a natural fit for Green, who has spent years establishing herself as a contemporary gothic icon. Her distinctive presence fills each episode with a potent blend of haunting energy and style—a quality unmistakably hers.
From Bond Girl to Mistress of Dark Fantasy
After earning worldwide recognition as Vesper Lynd in “Casino Royale,” Eva Green soon gravitated toward more shadowy, complex characters. Notably, she took on the role of the witch Serafina Pekkala in a film adaptation of “His Dark Materials.” This shift might have surprised some, given her earlier image, but Green has since made such roles central to her career—helped in part by filmmaker Tim Burton, with whom she collaborated on “Dark Shadows,” “Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children,” and “Dumbo.”
Green brings a particular delight to playing tormented, unconventional characters, especially witches. Reflecting on Vanessa Ives in “Penny Dreadful,” she told The Guardian:
“It’s like I’m not wearing a corset anymore when I play Vanessa, you know? People might think it’s terrible to be having fun in a show like this. But I’m having fun.”
The Witch as Statement
In the arts, the witch is anything but a neutral figure. Often seen as both dangerous and fascinating, she represents a freedom and power that threatens the established order—a threat so great that history has often tried to silence her altogether. Seeing an actress transition from the love interest in “Casino Royale” to a powerful medium challenging the Devil himself in “Penny Dreadful” is a striking career statement.
Yet Green describes these roles as primarily playful. As she also told The Guardian:
“I’m actually pretty quiet, even boring, in real life. Nothing like the wild witches I play. And I always get just as much pleasure from it, a childlike joy in doing something I love that feels a little forbidden.”
What is the so-called forbidden pleasure? It may be the unspoken rule in the film industry that actresses must never tarnish their image. Eva Green seems to break free from that golden cage with each new role—culminating in her portrayal of Vanessa Ives, an iconic, powerful, and deeply moving figure of supernatural fiction. In Hollywood's rigid system, that kind of role almost feels revolutionary.
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