For the Brigitte Fitzgerald from Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning, see article Brigitte Fitzgerald (I).
Brigitte Fitzgerald is a central character featured in the Ginger Snaps trilogy, and she was played by Canadian actress Emily Perkins. Brigitte first appears in the 2000 film Ginger Snaps and later in the 2004 sequel Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed. The modern day Brigitte from the first two films appears as her 19th century counterpart with the same namesake Brigitte Fitzgerald in the prequel film Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning.
Biography
In Ginger Snaps and Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed, the modern day Brigitte Fitzgerald is the second daughter of Pamela and Henry Fitzgerald. She was 15 on the verge of 16 in these two films. As events progress, Brigitte, in the beginning of Ginger Snaps, dedicates her life to following and protecting her sister, but she slowly shifts away from the mindset as she discovers Ginger's true in-appreciation of her sister in the first place. She later transforms into a werewolf as she was infected by Ginger's blood (who was infected herself from a werewolf attack), made apparent in Ginger Snaps II.
History
For the Brigitte Fitzgerald from Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning, see article Brigitte Fitzgerald (I).
Modern Day as Brigitte Fitzgerald
The Brigitte Fitzgerald in the modern era is implied to be the descendant or reincarnation of the Brigitte seen in the prequel. The modern day events take place in Ginger Snaps and Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed.
Events of Ginger Snaps
One day the fall of 1999, the Fitzgerald sisters were given a slide show assignment for one of their classes. Using Brigitte's camera and a lot of imagination, they put together a macabre presentation of photographs showing the sisters in various stages of death. Though their presentation impressed their classmates, their teacher, Mister Wayne, was sickened by their work and sent them to the guidance counselor's office.
During gym class, the sisters ran afoul of one of their rivals, a field hockey player named Trina Sinclair. Trina bullied Brigitte, pushing her onto the ground. Ginger, ever protective of her younger sibling stood in front of Trina and warned her, "Don't ever touch my sister again".
That same evening, Brigitte found herself set apart from her sister for the first time in her life. Ginger had gotten her first period, and Brigitte no longer felt that they were united against life as they once were.
That evening, Brigitte and Ginger went for a walk through a neighborhood park. While discussing the inadequacies of their lives, a werewolf, the Beast of Bailey Downs, leaped out from the bushes and pounced on Ginger, dragging her off screaming into the woods. Brigitte tried to follow them, but was too frozen with fear to do anything. The creature battered Ginger at length, biting her across the shoulder. Brigitte beat on the creature with her Polaroid camera, accidentally taking a snapshot of the beast. Ginger managed to get away and Brigitte and she ran towards the road. The beast followed them, but was struck by a vehicle driven by a young man named Sam. Terrified, the sisters raced home. Brigitte was shocked to see that the wounds across Ginger's body were already beginning to heal.
Taking refuge in a playhouse that the girls used when they were younger, Brigitte tried to research the lore concerning werewolves, but came up with nothing short of b-movie schlock fare. She began checking the calendar to see if Ginger's menstrual cycle somehow corresponded to the effects of the full moon. Ginger was repulsed by the notion that she was turning into a werewolf and dismissed Brigitte's concerns.
Brigitte eventually found Sam, the man who hit the werewolf with his van. Sam recognized that he had struck a lycanthrope, and Brigitte was surprised that he was willing to accept such a concept. Sam tried to press Brigitte for answers concerning what really happened that night, but she evaded his inquiries.
Before long, the effects of the werewolf infection began to have a demonstrative effect on Ginger. She grew more assertive, more promiscuous and even exhibited physical alterations such as pointed teeth and discolored hair. She even began growing a tail. This terrified Brigitte who went back to seek Sam's guidance. Pretending that she was the one infected by the curse, she asked for Sam's help. Having read up on the subject, Sam theorized that pure metals might be the key towards driving out infection. This was the basis behind why weapons made of silver were known to harm werewolves. He gave Brigitte his silver earring to see if it might help. Brigitte went home and convinced Ginger to let her give her a naval piercing. She used Sam's silver earring, but it did not provide the results she was hoping for.
The following day, Brigitte had a run-in with one of her high school rivals, Trina Sinclair. Trina despised the Fitzgerald sisters and generally took her frustration out on Brigitte, whom she perceived was the weaker of the two. Trina pushed Brigitte onto the ground, but Ginger flew into a rage, leaping upon the girl and brutally pummeling her with her fists.
Following this incident, Brigitte found that Ginger had engaged in unprotected sex with a student named Jason McCardy and as a result, had spread the lycanthropy infection to him as well. Before such a thing could spread into an epidemic, she went back to Sam, telling him how the silver did not have any effect. Sam told Brigitte about Monkshood, a perennial flower that was a cousin to wolfsbane. Theoretically, Monkshood might have been able to provide the help Brigitte was seeking, but it only bloomed in the Spring time and this was now Autumn. Brigitte continued to look for another solution to her sister's condition.
That evening, Trina Sinclair came over to the Fitzgerald house carrying a dog leash and sporting a band aid across her forehead. She yelled at Brigitte and accused Ginger of stealing her dog. Ginger grabbed Trina in a headlock and dragged her inside. Brigitte tried to get her to stop, but Ginger kept antagonizing the girl. During the scuffle, Trina slipped and suffered a fatal head injury. Brigitte and Ginger heard their parents returning home so they hid Trina's body in the freezer. Once their parents were out of the way, they pulled Trina's now-frozen body out of the freezer and buried her. Unfortunately, Brigitte accidentally broke two of Trina's frozen fingers off and inadvertently dropped them on the ground in the back yard.
The following day at school, Jason McCardy accosted Brigitte inside a supply closet. He was now demonstrating advanced side effects of lycanthropy and blamed both Ginger and Brigitte for his condition. The timely arrival of the school janitor prevented Jason from harming Brigitte.
Brigitte discovered that her mother had come into possession of some Monkshood from the local crafts store. Locking her sister in the bathroom, she took the Monkshood and went to see Sam at the Greenhouse where he worked. Sam was surprised to see her, but even more surprised to see that she had actually acquired some Monkshood. He warned her that there was no guarantee that using this would work and he could not even begin to guess what side effects might occur. It could even be fatal. Sam also indicated that he knew that it was Ginger who was suffering from the effects of lycanthropy and not Brigitte. Reluctantly, he boiled the Monkshood down to a liquid and filled it into a syringe.
On her way back to see Ginger, Brigitte came across Jason attacking a small child. Turning around, Jason attacked Brigitte and she was forced to stab him in the neck with the syringe. She was surprised to see that the Monkshood solution had worked and that Jason was seemingly cured. Unfortunately, she was now in need of more Monkshood. When she returned home, she discovered that Ginger had broken out of bathroom. She tracked her back to the high school where she discovered that her sister, more murderous than ever, had slaughtered their guidance counselor Mr. Wayne. Brigitte made Ginger swear that they would wait until everyone left school for the day then find a way to clean up this mess. While attempting to dispose of the body, their efforts were discovered by the school janitor. Ginger pounced on the man, eviscerating him. She then stated her intent to go after Sam next.
That evening, Brigitte found Ginger attacking Sam at a Halloween party hosted at his greenhouse. The two girls feuded with one another and Ginger accused Brigitte of resenting her because she could never be like her. In response, Brigitte cut open her own hand and placed it on Ginger's bloody palm, thus infecting herself. She boldly stated, "Now, I am you." At this point, Sam revived and hit Ginger across the back of the head with a shovel. Brigitte told him that the Monkshood solution worked, but they needed to get Ginger back to the house to get more of it.
As they drove back towards the house, Ginger fully transformed into a werewolf and escaped from the van. Afraid, and unaware that she has transformed, Sam and Brigitte entered the house. They sensed the "Gingerwolf" lurking about and so they hid inside the pantry, giving Sam time to prepare a second syringe. Sam wanted Brigitte to take it first, but she told him no, insisting that he needed to cure Ginger first. Sam went out to find Ginger, but she leaped upon him, mutilating him.
Brigitte picked up the dropped syringe, and followed the blood trail downstairs. Weak from exhaustion, she collapsed on the steps, dropping the syringe in the process. She recovered it, but when she looked up, she saw Ginger hovering over the bleeding Sam. Brigitte slowly crawled towards them and began lapping at Sam's blood in an attempt to convince Gingerwolf that she was now like her. When she began choking on it, Gingerwolf sensed Brigitte's insincerity and killed Sam in front of her.
Brigitte ran away and the Gingerwolf chased after her. Kicking a hole in the plaster wall of the basement, she scrambled through the crawlspace back to the sisters' bedroom. The Gingerwolf clawed its way after her, but Brigitte picked up a knife and, holding it to defend herself, stabbed the werewolf in the heart, killing it.
Events of Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed
Sometime after the incident with her sister, Brigitte found herself addicted to the Monkshood in hopes to cure her lycanthropy. She constantly sees the ghost (or possibly a hallucination) of her sister Ginger. Ginger tells her that the Monkshood is a temporary cure that only slows down the effects.
She also attempts to not let people get close to her as she is being stalked by an unnamed male werewolf, that intend's to mate with her. She eludes one encounter when a librarian named Jeremy who flirted with her found her overdosing on Monkshood in her motel room. He attempts to take her to the hospital when the male werewolf attacks, Jeremy was killed in the encounter and dragged away. Brigitte however, overdoses on the Monkshood and is found by someone who mistake the Monkshood for an illegal drug and she is placed in a rehabilitation clinic for drug abusers and chronic care patients.
She meets Alice, the director of the facility who, despite Brigitte's plea, refuses to release her. Brigitte manages to palm a piece of glass so she can measure her healing rate. A clinic worker, Tyler, visits her at night and offers her Monkshood if she preforms sexual favors. She refuses and Tyler tells her she won't have access to the Monkshood until she agrees. Brigitte's healing begins to accelerate and later Ginger appears, taunting her as Brigitte's lycanthropy states. A depressed Brigitte complicates suicide but decides not to.
Brigitte is also followed by an eccentric girl named Ghost who is in the facility along with her grandmother Barbara, who is a victim of severe burns. Ghost goes through her comic collection and discovers that Brigitte is a werewolf. Ghost tries to slip some Monkshood to Brigitte but is stopped by Tyler. The following night, in fear of her transformation rated, Brigitte finally gets Tyler to inject her with the Monkshood. Around this time the male werewolf has found its way to the clinic. The werewolf kills Ghost's dog. Ghost reveals the body was found in the disused crematorium. Ghost offers to help Brigitte escape but only if she can go with her. While crawling through the airvents they find Beth-Ann who has been having sex with Tyler in exchange for the drugs. Beth-Ann is dragged away by the werewolf. Ghost tells Brigitte that the escape route is were the beast dragged Beth-Ann. Brigitte and Ghost head there when the male werewolf attacks and separates them. When they make it to the crematorium, Brigitte is briefly subdued by the werewolf. Brigitte and Ghost finally make their escape when the werewolf is burned.
Brigitte and Ghost arrive at Barbara's house. They arrange for Tyler to deliver Monkshood to the gas station. When Brigitte finds the dead body of the gas station attendant she, along with Ghost and Tyler, head back to Barbara's home. While in the house, Tyler injects the Monkshood into Brigitte, but her body rejects the Monkshood. Ghost later tells Brigitte she was raped by Tyler, in retaliation Brigitte locks Tyler outside and allows the werewolf to kill him.
Alice arrives and is attacked by Ghost. Brigitte learns that Ghost has been lying to her about Barbara - Ghost claimed Barbara was a smoker but it is revealed that she wasn't. Brigitte attempts to confront Ghost but is stopped by Alice who attempts to take Ghost away. However they are stopped when the werewolf makes its presence known. Alice takes Ghost to the attic for refuge. The werewolf enters the house through a broken window. Brigitte is almost completely transformed. Ghost briefly distracts the werewolf leading Brigitte to fight and seemingly kill the werewolf when it falls into the basement. Ghost also appears to have killed Alice, and finds Brigitte close to a full transformation. Brigitte begs for death, but instead Ghost locks her in the basement. Brigitte's final fate is unknown but it is clear that Ghost intends on using her to kill people she doesn't like, starting with Barbara.
Appearance
Brigitte wears a skull necklace like her sister, and they match outfits. She wears long leggings, often an overcoat. She does not use make-up.
Werewolf Transformation
See main article werewolf transformation.
Trivia
- Brigitte, age 15, is played by a 23-year-old Emily Perkins. Katharine Isabelle, who plays her big sis Ginger, is four years younger than Perkins.
- When "Bee" accidentally pulls the leg off of the dead dog in the beginning of Ginger Snaps, the position of it in her hands changes between cuts.
- Emily Perkins (Brigitte) had her hair shaved off shortly before the start of filming, so she had to wear an (occasionally obvious) wig during the shoot.