The fierce leader of Sucker Punch's women warriors was the lobotomized and abused Babydoll,
played by Emily Browning. Since that film, Browning has been busy with a select group
of interesting, thoughtful projects. Let's take a closer look at what Emily Browning
has been up to since Sucker Punch.
Since Sucker Punch, Emily Browning has largely opted for small, indie projects, starting
with 2011's Sleeping Beauty, an Australian-made film about a very specific kind of brothel
at which men pay to touch women who are sleeping. It's easy to see the story as a deconstruction
of objectification of women, and even a satire about valuing women for their appearance rather
than their talents. The connection between the film and Sucker Punch, in which Browning
played another woman misunderstood for her appearance, is clear.
Sleeping Beauty was a huge challenge for Browning, who not only had to be fully nude on camera,
but also had to allow intimate contact between herself and other actors. Browning said that
her character, Lucy, was fascinating, and a complete contrast to her everyday self,
telling IndieWire,
"I thought her willingness and recklessness and nihilism and her strength was really cool.
The fact that it made me uncomfortable was a plus for me."
It makes sense that Browning, who at the time had gained attention from the mass media and
general public, might use this kind of film to question her career and image.
After Sleeping Beauty, Browning starred in a couple of very different thrillers, Magic
Magic and Plush, both released in 2013.
Browning takes on more of a secondary role in Magic Magic with her character Sara, who
embarks on a road trip to Chile and gets caught in a game of psychological horror.
Plush, from director Catherine Hardwicke, pushes Browning, quite literally, into the
spotlight. She plays Hayley, the ultra-famous frontwoman of a rock band named Plush, who
is stalked by a zealous fan. The film is part noir, part thriller, and part horror, and
gives Browning a chance to flex some acting chops as a brazen, bold character in a role
that is a bit of a departure from her previous films.
Browning's next major feature was Summer in February, based on a true story and set in
the early 20th century. In it, she plays Florence Carter Wood, a woman caught in a love triangle
with artist Alfred Munnings and his friend Gilbert Evans. This film is quite different
from Browning's previous work, even a bit traditional, and is the first of a set of
love-oriented films that set Browning on track to return to near-blockbuster films.
The second title in this period is God Help the Girl, which hearkens back to Browning's
roots as a character in a mental health facility, but combines it with her experience playing
a musician in Plush. In this film, Browning plays Eve, a secretly talented novice musician
who inadvertently brings two other musicians together to form a band. Browning has indicated
in interviews that she drew on her own experience for Eve, because Eve is unable to feel settled
or comfortable unless she finds a way to channel her creative energies.
For her next project, Browning was in 2014's Pompeii as the character Cassia. The story
is a fictionalized account of the ancient city of Pompeii as it was consumed by the
eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD. In interviews, Browning says that she always wanted to play
a character like Cassia, but the role never came up.
After Pompeii, Browning starred alongside Tom Hardy in Legend, a crime thriller based
on real-life events in which Hardy plays the dual role of twin brothers Reggie and Ron
Kray. Browning plays Francis, spouse of Reggie Kray, and describes her character as attracted
to Reggie Kray as a means to escape poverty, to the point where she is willing to turn
a blind eye to her husband's criminal activities.
"You mean prison?"
"Yeah, prison. You look beautiful!"
After these two more prominent roles, Browning turned back to small-budget, indie films Shangri-la
Suite and Golden Exits. In Shangri-la Suite, she plays one half of a serial-killing couple
bent on murdering Elvis Presley, and in Golden Exits, she provides an impressively textured
performance in a layered family drama about relationships and desire set in Brooklyn.
Both of the characters in these films are attracted to hopeless situations that make
them feel alive and serve as the perfect segue for the next chapter of Browning's career.
Browning's most recent role landed her in the acclaimed TV adaptation of Neil Gaiman's
American Gods, in which she plays Laura Moon, wife of protagonist Shadow Moon. Laura is
a complex character, one who Gaiman cited as being difficult to crack. Browning's performance
has been widely loved, though, even if her character is describable as cheating and selfish.
It's a testament to Browning's evolving skill as an actor that she's able to elevate her
role as Laura Moon to a level beyond that of the character in the novel, to the point
at which her own journey is on par with that of Shadow, the main character.
"Those four quarters you just loaded. This is not 80s Vegas, they won't just break your
hands and let you walk away. They'll prosecute and push for maximum sentence."
This recent role has brought Browning back into the limelight, and it'll be interesting
to see where she takes her career from here. Regardless, as a restless, relentlessly evolving
actor, we can be sure that Browning will not be content to rest on her laurels.
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