Editor's note: The below interview contains light spoilers for The Three Musketeers - Part II: Milady.

The Big Picture

• Milady's character deepens with the element of motherhood in The Three Musketeers - Part II: Milady, adding complexity and vulnerability.
• Milady's complicated relationship with Athos culminates in a moment of betrayal and vengeance.
• The ambiguous relationship between Milady and D'Artagnan reveals a vulnerable and complicated side to her character.

Some roles feel like the perfect marriage of actor and character, and Eva Green as Milady de Winter is one of them. In Martin Bourboulon's two-part epic The Three Musketeers, based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas, Green gets to portray a woman with countless facets, from the chameleonic spy for Cardinal Richelieu (Éric Ruf) to the one who got away for veteran musketeer Athos (Vincent Cassel). But while the first film, subtitled D'Artagnan, largely tracks its titular protagonist's (François Civil) journey through his aspirations of becoming a member of the King's (Louis Garrel) Musketeers, the second, subtitled Milady, gives us an even more intimate look at an antihero who has much more depth to her than even Dumas' book could fully render. Against the backdrop of seduction, betrayal, and war, the Three Musketeers themselves, Athos, Aramis (Romain Duris), and Porthos (Pio Marmaï), seek to stop a plot against the King, even if it might cost them their very lives in the process.

Ahead of the U.S. release of The Three Musketeers: Milady, Collider had the opportunity to catch up with Green for a conversation about her role in the second half of the epic two-parter. Over the course of the interview, which you can read below, the actress behind Milady discusses the major change to the character that convinced her to sign onto the project, why she hates the first day of filming, and what she thinks about Milady's motivation for tangling up with D'Artagnan. She also explains why the fire was a third character in that climactic sword fighting scene, whether there's room to make a Part 3 (and whether she'd return!), and more.

Eva Green Reveals the Change to Milady's Character That Convinced Her to Join 'The Three Musketeers'

COLLIDER: When we spoke last time about Part 1, there were things that you were able to hint at but couldn't really explain too much. In Part 2, we learn not only about Milady's previous connection with Athos and their marriage, but also that they have a child together. How did the inclusion of motherhood for her character really change her wants and drives for you to tap into while playing her?

EVA GREEN: For me, that was the thing that made me decide to get on board. We've never seen this in Milady, and we discovered the human, and, especially, that the child is her secret wound. The fact that she was betrayed by this man who hurt her so much — she became this hard character, and she had to build this tough armor in order to survive, and I liked that. In the novel, there's something a bit psychotic about her, which is fun, and it's wonderful. She's completely unpredictable. She screams. She cries. She's such a weird kind of wild animal. What I like here is that she has cracks and something real.

You mentioned betrayal, so I wanted to ask about the confrontation between Milady and Athos in the woods, which we touched on briefly before. Didn't you say it was the first scene you had to film?

GREEN: Oh, yeah. True. Oh, my god. Horrendous. On the first day of shooting, any actor is very, very nervous. We're all scared of getting fired, and it's very hard to be focused-focused. There's a different crew that you don't know. So all those elements were not really... I hate first days. But I had the advantage of knowing Vincent [Cassel]. I'd just worked with him a few months before, so I knew the wild animal. I know his energy, so that was helpful. I really relied on him, and that was quite something for a scene.

I was so fascinated by that scene, because Athos breaks down with her. He thinks that this conversation is going to go one way, and then when he's confronted with her and the memories of everything they shared together, those feelings just come rushing back. He's on his knees begging for her to forgive him. Is it because of that betrayal that she, ultimately, goes for the kill in that moment?

GREEN: Oh, yeah. There's something very hard about her, what he did. She will never, ever forget what he did. It's so metallic and hard inside her, and there is no way back. There's a moment you can see that, maybe. There was love there, there was something, but she closes down and goes back to being this killing machine. She's completely driven by vengeance. There's something very, very Shakespearean about that. You need some opera music in the background.

Eva Green Explains Milady's Complicated Relationship With D'Artagnan

One of the other fascinating dynamics that Milady has in these movies is her relationship with D'Artagnan. Do you feel like she's trying to use it as a distraction, or as a way to throw him off of her scent? Or is there a part of her that's more drawn to him than she wants to admit?

GREEN: It is very ambiguous, the relationship with D'Artagnan. She has fun with him. And it's interesting because I feel it's the real her, sometimes. In spite of herself, I feel she is touched by him, by his innocence. Maybe in a parallel world, she would have had something with him — a real thing, not just the sex. There is something that she finds endearing and brave about him. But she, of course, wants to bury all these emotions as quickly as possible when it comes up for a second. She's quite complicated.

Speaking of complicated, the conversation between Milady and Constance, while she's imprisoned, has so many layers. There's, obviously, the manipulation factor. But it does seem like there are times when we really see the vulnerability there. What did you like most about getting to play through that scene?

GREEN: Yeah, and that's the real Milady. Anne de Breuil, that's her real name, that's the woman. It is quite a complicated thing. Milady is Milady, and she does that, as well, to manipulate Constance, but everything she says is true. The fact that she confides in Constance about her condition as a woman or the suffering that she's been through — it's woman to woman, and she's touched by Constance. And, also, what Constance will do... there's something so pure and good. Nobody has ever done something that good for Milady. She's thrown when Constance performs this beautiful, generous act.

Fire Was a Third Character in Eva Green's 'Three Musketeers' Sword Fight

We spoke a bit last time about the horse riding and all those stunts in Part 1, but there's a lot more, it seems, in Part 2. The sword fight in the burning building is such a climactic moment. How much of that were you able to do yourself?

GREEN: Well, I did absolutely the whole fight. There were no stunts here. I loved training with the guys who fought for several weeks just to be comfortable and be credible as a sword fighter. But we never rehearsed with the fire. When the fire is so close, and the heat, you are like, "Oh, my god. I can't fuck this up. I can't fuck this up." The adrenaline is so high, and you go, "Okay, let's go." Boom, boom, boom. But the fire was like a character, a dangerous character. Just thinking about it, I'm sweating right now. If there'd been no fire, it would've been much easier. We didn't do so many takes, thank god. But for me, all the training beforehand was really my favorite thing on this project.

Without going into spoilers, the end of the movie feels like a story left untold. Do you feel like there's an opportunity for a Part 3? And if so, would you be open to returning for that?

GREEN: Oh, god. My god. I think it really would depend on how well it does, how people like it, if it's successful enough internationally. Then I think, probably, we'll do a third one. Maybe I will have white hair. I'll be much older. But there's so much to be told, it's Dumas. You've got The Man in the Iron Mask. There's potential, for sure. We'll see.

THE THREE MUSKETEERS - PART II: MILADY is available to buy or rent on Prime Video.

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