Departing from the original tale, the filmmakers of the new interpretation of the Grimm Brothers’ Snow White, ‘Mirror Mirror’, added a crucial character to the Queen’s court: Brighton, her faithful but bumbling servant. “Brighton fills the role of the huntsman from the old stories,” says producer Bernie Goldmann. “It’s a very complex part. He’s the person who decides whether Snow lives or dies, but he is also the Queen’s sidekick. As we looked at different actors against Julia [Roberts], that started to really define what the movie would be.”

Tony and Emmy Award-winning actor Nathan Lane plays Brighton, turning the role into a comedic tour de force. “Nathan also helped influence so many of the other performances in the movie,” says Goldmann. “He’s a wonderfully skilled comic actor and so generous. He was really present for the characters he interacts with.”

As the Queen’s long-suffering and much-abused servant, Brighton tries his best to please her, says Lane. “But he’s a constant disappointment to her. It’s a bit like what I imagine being Faye Dunaway’s assistant is like. But fortunately, comedy ensues.” Lane gives his reasons for accepting the role with characteristic brio. “I said yes to the part because of the outfit,” he says. “It was the opportunity to look like the late Shirley Booth that compelled me to play Brighton.”

Actually, he says, he jumped at the chance to work with Roberts. The pair met doing a benefit for Paul Newman’s Hole in the Wall Gang Camp several years earlier. “I just thought we would have fun together,” says Lane. “The character is kind of like the one she played in My Best Friend’s Wedding, only much meaner. She’s not a nice person, but villains are always the best parts. If you’re going to play the evil Queen, part of the fun is playing someone who doesn’t seem to have a conscience. And she looks fabulous in those stunning costumes.”

The relationship between Lane and Roberts became one of the comedic centerpieces of the movie. “Together they created a sense of playfulness within the evil they are plotting,” says producer Kevin Misher. “They are the villains for the adults, but also the comic foil for the kids. The part was originally conceived as a fairly small character, but with an actor of Nathan’s talents, it became a star turn.”

After being abandoned in the woods by Brighton, Snow White finds herself surrounded by a bickering band of outlaws, none of whom stands as high as her chin. Tarsem Singh has reinvented the familiar roster of hi-ho-ing miners as a quarrelsome gang of bandits who have turned to crime after being forced to flee their comfortable lives in the village.

“The Queen, who’s interested in outer beauty, has exiled them because they don’t fit her physical ideal,” says Goldmann. “That detail adds to the narrative by contributing emotional depth to the characters and making them relatable.”

Image Courtesy of Mirror Mirror

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About the author

Claudia Sondergaard
Specialised in American foreign policy media discourse, I have a real passion for media and writing and feel comfortable in subjects such as human rights, politics, environment, social issues, movies, TV and books. Reporting from Denmark. Follow me @swirlgirlversus

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