Why Kristen Stewart Didn’t Return As Snow White In The Huntsman: Winter’s War
Even though the first Huntsman film was received well, Kristen Stewart did not return as Snow White for The Huntsman: Winter’s War for these reasons.
While Kristen Stewart headlined the original 2012 film of The Huntsman franchise, quite a few dilemmas kept her from returning for the prequel/sequel, The Huntsman: Winter’s War. Back in the 2010s, a resurgence of interest in the Brothers Grimm fairy tales brought on the making of 2012’s darkly skewed, action-packed Snow White and the Hunstman. Starring Kristen Stewart and Chris Hemsworth in the title roles, Snow White and the Huntsman was indeed a lukewarm revision of the Brothers Grimm tale but made due on heavy action and great visuals, which helped the franchise get green lighted for a sequel.
A follow-up to Snow White and the Huntsman seemed like an effortlessly great idea, as Chris Hemsworth’s ever-growing acting career was at a high in the 2010s, and similarly, Kristen Stewart’s career was trending after Twilight and the phenomenon behind the saga that carried through the decade. A simple reproduction of action and comparably beautiful graphics with a continued narrative following Snow White and the Huntsman would have been an easy endeavor to produce a suitable, if not better, sequel for the franchise. However, as production got wrapped up in scandal and poor decisions, audiences were provided with the lackluster The Huntsman: Winter’s War sans Snow White or Kristen Stewart.
Kristen Stewart Was Originally Going To Return In The Huntsman 2
In 2013, a sequel to Snow White and the Huntsman was being worked on with the full intention of Stewart returning to her role as Snow White. Stewart, at the time, distinctively expressed her excitement about reprising her lead character and even went on to confirm her casting status. But, after scandal shook the franchise, not only was Stewart axed from The Huntsman’s sequel but Snow White and the Huntsman’s director Rupert Sanders stepped away from any involvement in the sequel as well.
The two – Stewart in her early twenties and Rupert, a married man of at least a decade – became breaking news when rumors swirled that they were caught up in a torrid affair. The scandal changed the direction of the franchise and altered Kristen Stewart’s acting career, consequences the actress labored over still years later – as reported by The Independent, in a 2019 interview with The Howard Stern Show, Stewart elaborated on her widely-publicized affair:
“We lived in a different time then, you know what I mean? I feel like the slut-shaming that went down was so absurd. And they should’ve put me in that movie! It would have been better… they didn’t put me in that movie because I went through such a highly publicized scandal, and so they were like scared of touching that.”
Instead of casting Stewart in the principle lead role of Snow White, The Huntsman franchise, complete with new cast and crew, decided to take an entirely different route.
