Snowpiercer’s Jennifer Connelly teases ‘reckoning’ for Melanie Cavill as ‘facade cracks’ during war with Layton

MELANIE Cavill has proved to be a ruthless operator on Netflix’s latest dystopian drama Snowpiercer.

The engineer extraordinaire has upheld a strict class system in the post-apocalyptic train, which holds the last surviving members of humanity after Earth was plunged into a new ice age.

From high-stakes repair operations to bloody interrogations, Melanie has committed herself to doing whatever it takes to ensure the train’s survival.

She even took over in the wake of the enigmatic Mr Wilford’s death in order to prevent mass panic, keeping up the appearance he is still alive using a series of old recordings.

Now Jennifer Connelly, who plays Melanie, has spoken about the hardships her characters will face in the latter half of the season.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter about Melanie upholding order, Connelly explained: “Melanie didn't create the system, but she as a person in charge didn't decide to take it apart either. 

“She chose to, in the service of her ultimate goal, which is to ensure the survival of the train and its inhabitants, she chose to maintain the status quo and keep the system going.”

She warned that the femme fatale would only be able to juggle plates for so long though, adding: “At a certain point in the arc of the season, there's a reckoning, and I think that's when things get really interesting for her.”

Melanie’s steely exterior and inscrutable manner have forged her into a formidable leader, but Connelly suggested the mask would start to slip as tensions reach fever pitch.

“I think order is a byproduct of her primary concern, which is the survival of the train and its passengers. That's really what she's fighting for. The interesting thing is that methodology is challenged at a certain point in the show, so the facade you're talking about starts to crack when she is challenged,” she went on.

“That's part of what made her really interesting, is her inability to maintain that facade.”

She stressed that Melanie was suffering deep down and despite her prestigious education went through hardships to make it aboard Snowpiercer.

“Like all the passengers on the train, she experienced an extreme trauma getting on the train, she suffered a great loss,” she noted.

“She feels that burden more and more as more and more of herself is uncovered and revealed, and she confronts the choices she's made and the impact it's had on the people of Snowpiercer.”

Fans predicted that Melanie was running the train just a few episodes into the series.

However, they were mortified at the lengths she went to to track down her enemies, with one grisly interrogation scene seeing her freeze Josie fingers before smashing them off with a hammer.

Snowpiercer is available to watch on Netflix with new episodes released on Mondays. The series airs on TNT in the US.