X-Men ‘97 has been must-watch TV since season 1. Two reasons for that are the amazing voice acting and the show highlighting other X-Men besides the ones everyone knows. A shining light in both cases is voice actress Carolina Ravassa, who voices Lorna Dane, aka Polaris.
I was lucky enough to talk to Carolina Ravassa about a bunch of topics surrounding not only X-Men '97 but also how she came to love Polaris in Marvel Comics.
With Polaris having relatively little established screen history, Ravassa had more freedom to shape her version of the character. However, she was still mindful of the decades of Marvel Comics history behind the character:
"I think it was actually kind of cool that she didn't have a lot of lore, because I didn't have to look at other Polaris's and how they had done stuff. We try and honor what has been done, or sometimes they try and voice match. And in this case, I just kind of got to do my own thing, which was really special. But that being said, I have to treat the [Marvel Comics] material with a lot of grace and respect, because she's been out in the world since about 1968.”
"And I should say, there is a lot of lore about Lorna, just not in animation and very little in live action. She's all over the comics, but they hadn't given her enough airtime for the animated series, so that's where I feel like we're bringing her to life," she continued.
"Absolutely insane. My brain is exploding. I still am trying to wrap my head around the fact that I'm part of X-Men 97. It's such a crazy thing. I, as a kid, you know, X-Men was on the TV, but I don't really think, like, oh, maybe one day I'll get to do that. So, it's pretty wild."Carolina Ravassa
Among the many things that impressed me about Ravassa was her dedication to the job. She doesn’t just read the lines. She researched Polaris's arcs in the comics and hopes that the show will get into Polaris’ depth.
"I feel like a lot of conversations will be opened up, like talking about mental health. She's had a very traumatic past. That includes, you know, the Genosha Massacre and includes her kind of being a space pirate; she's been tested on, there's so much there. You know, we'll see where the series takes it, because now we have seasons 3 and 4, so let's hope for some good stuff. But it's just, it's a very exciting prospect for the future and what we can build on."
That led me to the question everyone online has been asking: When are Polaris and Bishop getting together? To everyone watching, it's clear something is going on. For example, in season 2, episode 7 ("Strange Land, Savage Heart"), she jumps out of a jet to save Bishop. Unfortunately, she plays it cool and doesn't spoil anything.
“Look, I don't know, I just knew that I felt the need to jump out of a plane to help him, and then when we landed, I may have landed on top of him. But that, you know, there is a little bit of banter going on there between the two of them, but, you know, whatever else I tell you is, I… my lips are sealed.”
She ended the topic with a pretty amazing line. "Whatever I tell you is a lie, because I don't know what the future is (for Polaris and Bishop). It's up to the writers, and I'm excited for whatever way they take it. So yeah, I just, I'll leave it in their hands to develop all of that."
As if I couldn’t appreciate Carolina Ravassa more, she ended the conversation beautifully by talking about what the X-Men mean to her. She recognizes the similarities between mutant persecution and how people of other cultures are sometimes treated in America. But she offers hope in the end, saying that we should embrace each other for a variety of reasons.
“I feel like sci-fi and comics have been at the forefront of inclusivity and diversity way before anything else has. It's kind of what the U.S. is dealing with today, you know. ICE is out there trying to get people out that shouldn't be thrown out of the U.S. I think it's a way to welcome everybody into a world where we're all offering different points of view and different histories and cultures and customs and food, and it would be ideal if we could find a way to live together. But I do feel like it's a snapshot of the world, you know? It's a metaphor for everything we live day to day.”
You can watch our full interview with Ravassa below and be sure to stream X-Men '97 on Disney+.
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