Régine Le Haut (Kate McKinnon in the American release; Julie Khaner in the original French/UK release) is the main villainess from the 2017 film Leap! (originally released in 2016 under the title Ballerina). She was a wealthy restaurant owner and the mother of Camille Le Haut. A cruel and haughty woman, Régine was shown to be brash towards her housekeeper Odette and pressured Camille to become a ballet dancer, putting her through excruciating amounts of training to make sure she was perfect. Régine also showed cruelty toward Félicie Lebras, an escaped orphan who began working with Odette in exchange for a home, pushing a bucket of water she was using down the stairs upon first meeting her.
Using her connections, Régine arranged for Camille to become a ballet student at the Paris Opera, which would give her the opportunity to perform in an upcoming production of The Nutcracker. But unbeknownst to Régine, Camille's acceptance letter was intercepted by Félicie, who took over Camille's identity to take the classes in her place. When Régine found out what Félicie had done, she angrily confronted her at the Opera with Camille and instructor Mérante, attempting to have her thrown in prison and attempting to fire Odette (who had been training Félicie) under the claim that she'd betrayed her. But instead, Mérante allowed Félicie to remain in the class with Camille, but gave her the ultimatum that if she didn't receive the part in The Nutcracker, she would have to leave the school. Régine reluctantly agreed to the deal after Mérante threatened to drop Camille from his class if she went through with firing Odette, and viciously ordered her daughter to get the part before dragging Camille away.
When Félicie failed her audition and the part was given to Camille, Régine callously twisted the knife by having her sent back to her orphanage, bragging to Odette that she was never going to see her again and that she was fired. Later on, though, after a dance battle between Félicie and Camille saw the latter admitting that she only danced because of her mother's pressure and that Félicie was more deserving of the part, Félicie was set to dance in The Nutcracker.
Upon learning this, however, the evil and vengeful Régine cornered Félicie after knocking her friend Victor out with a wrench, angrily accusing her of turning her daughter against her and ignoring Camille's pleas for her to stop. After chasing her to the unfinished Statue of Liberty, which aspiring inventor Victor had been helping create, Régine tried to kill Félicie with a sledgehammer before cornering her at the top of the statue, intending to make Félicie's death appear to be a tragic accident. But Victor, with Camille's help, was able to use a wings contraption he'd made to rescue Félicie. Régine jumped onto Victor's back in another attempt on Félicie's life, but was defeated when they flew through a piece of scaffolding, leaving an enraged Régine tangled up in ropes. Félicie managed to get to her performance in time, and Régine's ultimate fate was left unknown.
Trivia[]
- Kate McKinnon also lent her voice to villainess Karen Griffin from Family Guy and appeared on Saturday Night Live as an evil Sorceress.