Posted in: Disney+, Marvel, TV | Tagged: X-Men '97

X-Men '97 Star Carolina Ravassa on Polaris Embracing Her New Team

X-Men '97 star Carolina Ravassa spoke with us about her role as the newest X-Men, Polaris, balancing Magneto's legacy and her own, and more.

If there's anything X-Men '97 has done, the original Fox Kids Saturday morning series X-Men: The Animated Series is not only expanding on the wide range of existing characters of the popular Marvel Comics and its other contemporary animated show, but we're also seeing new characters from the greater X-universe with the government-run X-Factor and X-Force. For voice actor Carolina Ravassa, who's previously tackled other animated projects like Marvel's What If…?, Spidey and His Amazing Friends, and the Square-Enix video game Marvel's Avengers, it felt like the perfect opportunity to be fully embraced by the Marvel family playing Polaris (a.k.a. Dr. Lorna Sally Dane), the daughter of Magneto (voice of Matthew Waterson), who shares his powerful magnetic powers and tries to carry on his legacy after his heroic sacrifice against Apocalypse (voice of Ross Marquand). Ravassa spoke to Bleeding Cool about playing the "badass" and joining the X-Men after her run with the government-run X-Factor, if she followed Arnold Drake and Jim Steranko-created character in the comics or the original TAS, how she shines in episodes 206 ("Danger.exe") and 207 ("Savage Land, Savage Heart") with an eye to the future.

X-Men '97 Star Carolina Ravassa on Embracing Her Role as Polaris

Bleeding Cool: What intrigued you about 'X-Men '97' and how does playing Polaris compare to your other voiceover roles?

Ravassa: Well, 'X-Men '97' is a fabulous show just in and of itself because the characters are so legendary and they've been around for so long. When I auditioned, I didn't know it was 'X-Men '97,' so it's not like I knew what I was getting into, but I was really glad to have gotten the role. What I love about Polaris is that she's so…" badass." That's a simple answer, but I feel like she has overcome a lot, and in this season, you're seeing how she is switching from working with one faction (X-Factor) to going back to the X-Men and everything that happens in between. I think it's a lot of moral, emotional decisions she's making, so I like that she's a complicated character.

As you found out about the role and started digging in, did you follow the comics, and/or did you also watch the original series?

Growing up, I did not. I didn't read the comics or watch the original series, sadly. I wasn't watching it as a kid growing up in Columbia, but I definitely already saw season one of 'X-Men '97,' because so many of my friends are on it and I was excited to support them. I've known about the characters, obviously, through the 'X-Men' movies, the live-action ones that have come out over the years. Since then, I have done more research to understand where Polaris comes from and all her backstory.

How do you explain your approach to your character as the child of Magneto, and is there some chip on her shoulder, like she's trying to balance her wanting to forge her own legacy and identity on top of dealing with maybe what some might consider baggage from what her father and his legacy?

I wouldn't say she has a chip on her shoulder, although maybe some writers would use that word, that saying. Like any human being, she has a past that has been very difficult, and I think Magneto has a bad rep for obvious reasons. She has found a father figure in Professor X [Marquand], asked him for guidance, and I think she just doesn't want to be connected to Magneto. In the news and the press in the world, because he has done what, in her eyes, is wrong, and so I think she's trying to find the strength to forge her own path without just hating on the past or hating where she comes from.

I think it's complicated, and she's having all those feelings, but then, especially in episode (206), she finds a way to reconcile those with the help of Professor X. I think being welcomed by the X-Men family once again is important for her, because she feels like she's home and feels in that space, but yeah, it's very complicated. There is a lot of baggage, but I think that that's the point of life, and human beings are getting past the baggage.

The way the show is structured also lets you catch those little subtleties and updates. Did you have any feelings when you first saw that your character was in that opening title sequence?

Oh, well, I mean, I didn't know that was going to happen, so that was exciting. You mean like in the actual intro, like when the music is playing?

Yes, when they introduce the characters, the mutants, and everything, your character, Polaris, has her own little sequence there.

That was super exciting. I didn't know it was going to happen. I just assumed they'd keep it as it had been in the 90s. For me, it was definitely a surprise when I actually saw it, a really pleasant surprise.

We have got two episodes left this season so far. Have we seen your favorite Polaris moment or some that might be for next season?

Yeah, episode six is definitely my favorite, because so much of her is explored, and we get to see her leaving, then we get a very vulnerable, intimate conversation with Professor X. We got to see her coming into her own and really wielding her true power, so I feel like it's a very complete episode for her. Episode seven is exciting because we see the beginning of a little fun with Bishop (voice of Isaac Robinson-Smith), and I found that they did that very subtly, so that was cool. I guess for Polaris, those were some exciting moments. I can't talk about the future, but I am hoping we see a lot more also in seasons 3 and 4.

You've done some other Marvel projects previously, and I was wondering, did any of that kind of factor into maybe getting that world and the transition easier for 'X-Men '97' or not?

No, I guess because I played Queen Isabella, the Queen of Spain, in also episode six of season two…Whoa! That's crazy. Both of my big episodes are episode six in season two, but of 'What If…?' and she's very different. I feel like she was sort of, I don't know, on the wrong side of history in that episode, so she feels more like a villain there, and I was definitely channeling an older character, if you will, with a very different background. I wouldn't connect them at all, but I definitely feel like I'm actually now really in the Marvel family, whereas before I was sort of on the periphery, so this is exciting.

X-Men '97, which also features the voices of Ray Chase, George Buza, Jennifer Hale, Cal Dodd, Lenore Zann, Holly Chou, Alison Sealy-Smith, JP Karliak, Adrian Hough, Chris Potter, Gil Birmingham, and Catherine Disher, streams Wednesdays on Disney+.

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