Emily Browning took on the role of the young woman determined to be free at all costs. "The words 'baby doll' make you immediately think of something really fragile," Browning says, "but she's not at all. That's what was so cool to me about this character—she's actually pretty tough, with an unexpected stoicism."
Delving inside Babydoll's psyche led Browning to discover what might have influenced her and made her so resilient.
"I think the people in her fantasies represent her experiences, the oppression she has had to put up with throughout her life. She has this almost simplistic view of the good guys and the bad guys, the bad guys being men like her stepfather and, later, some of the monsters in her fantasies. And the Wise Man in her dreams represents the ideal father figure, strong but really caring and able to guide her and help her make the right choices."
"Babydoll symbolizes that transition between thinking like a child and thinking like an adult, when your perception of the world changes," Zack Snyder says. "She is a warrior, both delicate and strong at the same moment, and Emily really personified everything I had envisioned about Babydoll. She has this mystic, timeless, almost unquantifiable look and completely brought the character to life for me."
Browning felt the full support of Snyder as she worked to embody a character so dear to him. "Zack obviously had a clear vision and knew exactly what he wanted, but at the same time he was really collaborative and was totally open to other ideas," she notes. "He always wanted to make sure that I was happy with my performance."
The first friend that Babydoll makes in her new surroundings is Rocket, a strong-willed if somewhat naive girl who, together with her older sister, Sweet Pea, have been at the asylum long enough to have learned the ropes.
Jena Malone plays the impetuous Rocket, whom she says "is sort of the archetype of the younger sibling—someone who is cared for and looked after, but doesn't always appreciate it. I felt Rocket was very free in the way that she could see the world and not always be as affected by it, but feeling free in her world isn't necessarily a positive thing. There's a risk to having too much confidence, or a false sense of confidence, in her case."
Rocket's false sense of security comes in part from having a big sister who has always watched over her. As Babydoll gets to know the girls, it becomes clear to her that not only does Sweet Pea serve as a protector for her little sister, but as a leader of the group. Sweet Pea views Babydoll's arrival as a threat to her authority and her position as the favorite of those in control.
Abbie Cornish, who plays Sweet Pea, instantly connected with the character. "When I initially read the script, Sweet Pea spoke to me the most. She's a mother figure who looks out for Rocket, her wilder and unpredictable baby sister. Sweet Pea has good instincts and she heeds them. She understands how discipline works in their world and what she has to do to get through her everyday life. I think she really believes that if they just put their heads down and work hard and do what they're told to do, that one day they'll walk out of there. The idea of trying to escape—the consequences of it—scares her more than it scares Rocket."
One girl who definitely follows Sweet Pea's lead is Blondie, whose nickname belies her appearance. The part is played by the raven-haired Vanessa Hudgens, who offers, "Blondie is very sweet, if a little bit scared, and that fear can get the best of her. She has her 'blonde' moments every now and then, but when she jumps into the action scenes, she's a total badass."
The experience was one she'll not soon forget. "This project was unlike anything I've ever done, and working on it felt so empowering. It's still rare for women in film to really kick butt, especially in a way that no one's ever seen before, and the fact that Zack did this and I got to be a part of it makes him my hero," she smiles.
Another character to find her courage on the battlefield is Amber, who earns her wings piloting the other girls to safety on more than one occasion.
Jamie Chung, who plays the role, states, "Amber is the kind of girl who wants to fit in, to be accepted, so she's a people-pleaser and a little submissive. The idea of freedom, of actually escaping, riles her up and helps her find her courage. That newfound courage translates into Babydoll's fantasy worlds where she's the captain of her vessel. Whether it's a helicopter, a Meka or a B-25, her job is to make sure the others can accomplish their goals on the ground and in the air, and be lifted to safety when they're ready to get out of there. She has to do her job right, or everything will go wrong, and she cares too much about the others to fail them."
The sense of devotion that develops between the characters was a direct reflection of the connections created between the actresses off screen.
"The chemistry that each of these five women had with each other was really obvious, both on and off the set," Deborah Snyder observes. "That's something you can't make up; it's just something magical that happens. And in a film like this, where the characters have to create an unbreakable bond with each other, that magic really has to be there. We were so lucky that they each had such devotion to the project and to each other, and I think it really shows in the film."
"I can't imagine a different actress playing any one of these parts," Zack Snyder adds. "They all perfectly embodied what I had envisioned when conceiving of these girls, and they all delivered in a way even I hadn't imagined."
Even more so than the five young rebels, the authority figures in the asylum appear distinctly different in Babydoll's imagination.
Carla Gugino plays Dr. Vera Gorski, who goes from psychiatrist to Madam as fantasy takes over. Attempting to help the young women survive, if not escape, their surroundings, the character is also under the thumb of those in control and is deluded into thinking she has any authority of her own.
"This is a woman who feels a lot, but doesn't express herself in that regard," Gugino says of her character, whose accent reveals her Eastern European origins. "She's very tough and, I felt, given when and where she probably grew up, has gone through a lot in her lifetime, much worse than these girls will ever know. She's a part of the establishment, but she cares about them, too, so her tact is, 'Let me figure out how to get them through this and empower them within this precarious world."
The man attempting to usurp any of their newfound power is Blue, who we first see as an orderly but who ultimately runs the show with an iron fist. Oscar Isaac plays the role.
"I think Blue is probably someone who has felt powerless in his life, and now he's able to stake some claim to these girls," Isaac comments. "He wants their respect and he wants to control them. Of course, he's out for himself and whatever he can get. And if they don't go along with him, the consequences are severe."
One of the consequences for Babydoll lies in the hands of a character who is only referred to as the High Roller, a somewhat ambiguous man played by Jon Hamm. And the one true ally the girls have is the Wise Man, a part that Snyder created with his friend Scott Glenn in mind.
"The Wise Man really represents the voice inside your head," the director says, "the one you wish you listened to more often. He is the mentor and the positive adult male energy in the film, and the perspective and the humor that Scott brought to the role were exactly what it needed."
Glenn appreciated the film's eclectic style. "There's action, there's adventure, it's sexy and funny and scary." Referring to all the eras and settings in which his character pops up, he adds, "One of the main things that appealed to me was the challenge of inhabiting the film through all its different worlds. I'm in 15th-century Japan, I'm in World War I, I'm on an alien planet in the future... Through all this, the Wise Man acts as a guide for both the girls and the audience, like a sort of sensei warrior monk."
Snyder says that each of the characters offers the audience a different perspective of the story, declaring, "I couldn't have asked for a better or more committed group of actors to bring this story to life. On top of playing all the emotional dimensions of the characters, it was a very physical movie to make, and everybody brought their A game to the set, every day."