With Snowpiercer, Rowan Blanchard Is Finally In Control

By Gina Marinelli


Like several Disney Channel stars that have come before, Rowan Blanchard is willing to take control of how she presents herself to the world. Longtime fans will recognize the 19-year-old as someone who’s not afraid to speak about her personalized struggles with mental health and contributor for marginalized members of society, be it giving a speech on intersectional feminism at the 2017 Women’s March or encouraging fellow white, able-bodied folks to participate in Black Lives Matter protests this past summer. She’s also recently slain a Rodarte lookbook and Cultured magazine spread in extravagant styles you won’t likely find on a Girl Meets World set. Nevertheless for all else who still coworker Blanchard with her memorable childhood character, Riley Matthews, the upcoming second season of Snowpiercer is a major breakout moment, the initial of a new and action-packed chapter for actress.


in the next season of the TNT sci-fi drama, which premieres today (January 25), Blanchard takes on the role of Alexandra Caville, a character who only appeared in the final moments of the initial installment’s cliffhanger finale. Snowpiercer tells the story of a 1001-car-long (give or take several, depending on how much you’ve watched) train revolving around the world indefinitely. The globe itself is frozen, essentially lifeless, due to an experiment intended to reverse the devastating effects of global warming gone horribly wrong. Alexandra is the daughter of Melanie Caville (Jennifer Connelly), the train’s recently overthrown leader, who was previously assumed dead having missed the train’s departure seven years ago. The passengers, plagued by class division and scarcity of resources, have only just emerged from a gruesome revolution if they meet Blanchard’s Alexandra. The season brings more of the exceptional teenager’s story to life in this frightening fantasy world.


far-fetched because the premise may be, Blanchard understands a thing or two about living an outlandish teen’s life, and this role is her way of showing she’s ready and capable of work that looks nothing like what we’ve seen from her in the past. Also abnormal is the manner in which she talks about it. “This is my first time doing everything from house. So, that’s funny,” she tells MTV News by phone. Any customary press tours or celebrations connected with Snowpiercer are, certainly, happening remotely, which means we’re also catching the actress in her new residence. “I moved to New York in July. I got my own place here and I’ve just been sort of setting up,” says the Los Angeles native. “I feel really lucky that I can have a comfortable setup and I’ve been able to do the things that I’ve wanted even in the midst of this pandemic. I’m super happy to be living here. It feels really creatively inspiring to me.”


Nevertheless even on the day of our call, she couldn’t help yet be reminded that Disney — or rather Disney Channel-star gossip — is some days closer than it seems. Immediately considering that, that morning, a Google search for Blanchard caused headlines to pop up involving former co-stars and love triangles that don’t actually concern the Snowpiercer actress. We weren’t about to discuss any of it, yet funnily enough, she subtly winks to the headlines anyway, perhaps acknowledging the lingering reality the sort of fame she’s had, even once she’s grown for now behind it.


MTV News: Let’s get into Snowpiercer. How did the possibility to work on the show come about?


Blanchard: I first heard of the show back whenever they were casting Season 1, which I think is pretty different than what I initially read. Nevertheless the character of Alexandra was brought to me toward the end of Season 1, since that’s once she’s introduced. I just felt super excited and grateful to be a piece of something with actors I really respect. Jennifer [Connelly] is so inspiring and special to me. To be on the same set as her was something I was really grateful for.


MTV News: I visualize you as someone who hasn’t really shied away from showing different sides of yourself, especially through your presence on social media. Nevertheless this role is a big change of pace for anyone who is aware you because the actress from Girl Meets World. Is that something you’re conscious about any time taking on a new and different project?


Blanchard: I sort of expect that right now, since Girl Meets World has been off-air for a while, people have the capacity to be able to see me in whichever light I pick to display myself. I know that that’s probably naive to mention because I have noticed  — especially today — that Girls Meets World is pretty fresh still in people’s memories, which is funny because it feels really far away in my personalized life. Yet I’m happy that, every possibility I get, people embrace me and let me try out and experiment with different things that mean different things to me and different parts of myself. I’m really excited that Snowpiercer is coming out and people will have a different context for me.


MTV News: Do you also feel a creative pull toward working on something that’s such a contrast to what you’ve done in the past?


Blanchard: Yeah, I think I’m just really attracted to things that challenge me. And Snowpiercer is a legitimately complicated show for me to be a piece of. It’s like playing pretend. All those things are fun challenges, and I just feel really excited to try out and test out what it’s like achieving in that sort of fantasy space. It’s a really nice challenge.


MTV News: How do you know your past roles in comedy and sitcoms have prepared you to play Alexandra Caville?


Blanchard: Snowpiercer is one of the most complicated things that I’ve worked on because it feels legitimately like work making these really far-fetched scenarios appear and feel real. Making them resonate and making them feel tangible is actually really hard.


MTV News: Even as a viewer watching Snowpiercer, it may be a challenge to wrap your head around the dark theme: the threat of global warming, civil unrest. It also some days hits a little bit close to house. Is that piece of what compelled you to be a piece of it? Do you know it feels particularly relevant in 2021?


Blanchard: I mean, obviously. I don’t really think of the films and the TV we do as having to change the world. I don’t think that’s necessarily essential, yet it’s certainly cool to have different fantasy worlds and think about the various degrees of how much the probability of things. Snowpiercer is a far-out storyline nevertheless there really are certain elements of it that feel really relevant and tangible.


MTV News: So, Alexandra came in at the very last minute of Season 1 and basically threw each person for a loop. What was it like joining a cast that nearly completed an entire season with each other, and also an audience of characters who literally just emerged from a bloody revolution?


Blanchard: Surprisingly, and thankfully, it was really nice. Everybody was super welcoming of me and made me feel really safe. It helped me work better to be able to see how everybody had already had so several conversations about Snowpiercer. And getting to step into everybody else’s world made it surprisingly easier for me to develop my character, which I think makes sense.


It felt like I may place myself easier in the world because it had already been somewhat established.


MTV News: What qualities of Alexandra do you find most compelling? What were some of the most tough and fun characteristic to explore? 


Blanchard: Gosh, well, it was really fun finding Alex’s humor because she’s so hard and tough, as sort of a security mechanism. It was fun finding the moments that would be just lighter: what makes her laugh, what touches her, what makes her feel weak. A lot of that came from my scenes with Jennifer, which I was really thankful for.


One thing that was actually funny and hard to portray was how cold it is outdoor. That was actually sort of hilarious, figuring out how to prepare that real.


MTV News: Sure, 117 degrees below zero is pretty unfathomable. Was there anything specific you did to prepare?


Blanchard: If I got onto the set and saw [the cast and set] physically, it became easier for me to conceptualize. Like, OK, what would it really be like having so few resources, responding to so several people, and being a piece of this weird world where I’m half a child, nevertheless not really, because everyone’s been treating me like an adult my whole life.


MTV News: Has this show sparked ideas for new roles to take on, especially assignments that are different than anything else you’ve done?


Blanchard: Being on Snowpiercer and seeing how fun it is to play somebody and be in fantasia-fake world, I just desire to do more stuff that’s imaginative and creative, that’s harder to prepare real. It’s a really nice challenge for me as an actress to try parts where a lot of the things that make them complicated are making these far-fetched situations feel real. I'd like to play more things that challenge the fuck out of me because I think that Snowpiercer really challenges me, and I feel like the most gratified work-wise Whenever I feel like I’m learning something.


MTV News: Since the second season wrapped at the begin of the pandemic, how has that affected the premiere now?


Blanchard: I mean, I certainly am shocked to be doing all this press stuff from house. I’m sure that there would have been much grander premiere plans, which would have been really fun, nevertheless, you know, it’s an interesting year. We’re all just figuring it out. I’m hoping that. Because more folks are at house, it’ll work in the show’s favor and more people will visualize it.


MTV News: I can visualize that! I mean it’s a show that’s easy to binge, also, because you just keep wanting answers. 


Blanchard: Yeah, I hope so. I’m really excited for people to be able to see me in a different light and visualize me play something that’s really surprising for me and different for me.


MTV News: That mentioned, how do you anticipate what the answer might be to this new chapter for you?


Blanchard: It’s been a long time for me, personally, have the ability to have a little bit more control over how people visualize me because — anybody who comes from Disney will tell you — it’s just exceptionally hard to break out of that and have people take you seriously. I’m really excited and thankful that this show’s a really good possibility for me have the ability to do that.