Eva Green starred as Sibylla of Jerusalem in Ridley Scott‘s Kingdom of Heaven, but a huge, important chunk of her character was cut from the movie, prompting the renowned filmmaker to apologize to his actress.
While the actual movie sees Sibylla primarily as a love interest for Orlando Bloom‘s Balian of Ibelin, her character actually had much more to offer. Talking to IndieWire, Scott revealed that there was a 17-minute-long scene in the movie, which had to be cut down, and neither Green nor her mother ever forgave him for it.
He stated,
[Eva Green] never forgave me for cutting that 17 minutes. Her mother shouted at me. ‘How can you do this?’ I said, ‘I know, I’m sorry!’
Luckily, fans got to see Sibylla’s true potential in Kingdom of Heaven‘s Director’s Cut, which expanded on her story and made her something much more than a love interest.
Ridley Scott’s Director’s Cut Did Justice to Eva Green
Sibylla’s brother, King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem (Edward Norton), suffers from leprosy in the movie and eventually passes away at a young age. In the original theatrical cut, Green’s character is primarily there as Balian’s love interest.
She visits him in the Holy Land, and they fall for each other despite being in a bad marriage to Guy de Lusignan. After the King encourages her to marry Balian, he refuses to become the next king, and Sibylla abdicates. They return home, and Balian resumes his work as a blacksmith. Overall, Green’s character had no depth, no story, and no moment where she shines solo.
However, this is fixed in Scott’s Director’s Cut, where viewers are introduced to her son, Baldwin V, who is in line to the throne. Unfortunately for Sibylla, she learns that her son has leprosy, just like her brother.
The realization comes when she realizes that her young son does not react to hot wax. When the diagnosis is confirmed, she is left in a tough spot. On one hand, she is a mother who loves her son unconditionally. On the other hand, she doesn’t want her son to go through what her brother did.
Eventually, she makes the difficult and heartbreaking decision to poison him. She does so tearfully, cradling her son, as he lies asleep in her arms. While this subplot may seem minor, it puts things into perspective. Sibylla wasn’t just a love interest. She was a character with a tragic story, someone who had to make a lot of tough decisions.
On the ReelBlend podcast, Scott put his regret into words, stating, “To my regret, I removed the 17 minutes because people were saying the film’s long…how wrong they were. You have to watch that version.”
The Director’s Cut also gives viewers a chance to understand why Sibylla made the decisions she did. She didn’t just get up and walk away with Balian, handing the throne over to Guy, especially when he went against everything her brother once stood for. The uncut version proves that there were a lot of elements at play that went unseen, making Green’s character stand out. Now we know why she didn’t forgive Scott!
Eva Green Gets Candid About Her Character in Kingdom of Heaven
Green described her character as “nebulous“, stating that there isn’t much that viewers get to know about her. Talking to the BBC, Green reflected on Sibylla being “madly in love with Guy“, refusing the crown, and the following consequences of that action.
She added, “I didn’t build my character from the history, it was more on the script.” Green was hired just a week before filming for Kingdom of Heaven began. While it was stressful for her, it was also “very exciting.” She said, “But it was wonderful to be surrounded by those actors – I could only aspire to their knowledge.“
Of Scott, Green said, “Ridley is also a master. He had a lot of pressure around him, but he’s very British. He can look quite reserved, and everything is in control. He’s extremely patient – I’ve never met anyone that calm before.”
In a different interview, this time with Dark Horizons, Green opened up about Scott having to cut the movie short and focus on “the relationship between the Christians and the Muslims” instead. She added that the theatrical cut was “more focused on the men.”
Talking about her character in the Director’s Cut, Green said,
It was a too long script so they had to make compromises, the love story might’ve been too long and the son story might’ve been too long also. It will exist though, and my character is extremely different in the other version – she’s more complex. I’m happy it exists and I’m very proud that it’s not going to be locked away.
Have you seen the full version of the movie? Do you think it did a much better job of bringing Green’s character to justice? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
Stream Kingdom of Heaven currently on STARZ (via Prime Video).
