The Agency's Posts

Grammys 2013: The performance mash-ups to dread: The best thing theGrammystelecast attempts to do is also its most tricky feat to accomplish:....
Read More>

Review: Laughs stolen in 'Identity Thief': The script for this revenge/road trip farce is a mess, but Melissa McCarthy is a gem and Jason....
Read More>

Kelly McGillis recalls making the 1986 blockbuster 'Top Gun': “I feel the need, the need for speed” Maverick and Goose are flying high once....
Read More>

Kristen Wiig joins Will Ferrell in 'Anchorman' sequel: Kristen Wiigis joining the cast ofWill Ferrell's "Anchorman" sequel. Knights of....
Read More>

'Lincoln' pierced ears, 'Argo' pecs? Talk about period drama: With his concave cheekbones, lanky build and grooved brow,Daniel Day-LewisreplicatesAbraham....
Read More>

De Niro's thoughts on some of his most memorable films: cWith a career that stretches back to the 1960s,Robert De Nirohas been in more than his share....
Read More>

Saturday NIght Movie Pick: <iframe width="350" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NApJ
Read More>

Justin Timberlake to perform at the Grammy Awards: TheGrammy Awardsstill have the ability to surprise. The Recording Academy unveiled this morning....
Read More>

Rediscovering Lee Marvin's gritty brilliance: The versatile Oscar-winner, who died at 63 in 1987, is the subject of a new biography, a....
Read More>

W. Kamau Bell gets talk-show lessons from Chris Rock: W. Kamau Bell, host of FX's "Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell," said he is trying....
Read More>

Amanda Seyfried says 'Mean Girls' was her 'best work': Amanda Seyfriedis getting quite a bit of love for her latest films "Lovelace" and"
Read More>

SAG Awards 2013: 'Argo' a go-go; Day-Lewis now Oscar frontrunner: A big win for Ben Affleck and cast raises the film's best picture chances in the Oscar race,....
Read More>

Bono reveals details about new U2 studio album: A newU2album is rattling (and humming) to life. Inan interviewwith England's Sun newspaper,....
Read More>

Jenna Lyons, the Woman Who Dresses America: IT’S hard to miss Jenna Lyons. About nine feet tall and slim as a mink, often....
Read More>
Ann Hathaway: The Dark Knight Rises
Posted on: 02/26/12
Share/Save/Bookmark
 
Gotham City is a war zone. A ruthless madman named Bane has ripped away any sense of security and the citizens, haggard and clutching suitcases with refugee anxiety, sit behind barbed wire waiting to see what will blow up next. A hooded prisoner is dragged in – it’s Bruce Wayne, one of Gotham’s most famous faces – but the eyes of the crowd go instead to the woman in black standing at the top of the staircase.

“Sorry to spoil things, boys, but Bane needs these guys himself,” says sultry Selina Kyle, played here by actress Anne Hathaway, navigating the steps with stiletto heels that, on closer inspection, turn out to have serrated edges capable of leaving nasty claw marks in a fight. She also wears high-tech goggles that, when not in use, flip up and resemble feline ears.
 

Meet the new Catwoman — but don’t expect her to do any purring this time around. “I love the costume,” Hathaway said last summer on the set of “The Dark Knight Rises,” after shooting that scene for the film. “I love the costume because everything has a purpose, nothing is in place for fantasy’s sake, and that’s the case with everything in Christopher Nolan’s Gotham City.”

Nolan is the director who truly made Batman a grim creature of the night after decades of Hollywood versions that climbed into the Batmobile with a wink. On July 20, the filmmaker delivers “The Dark Knight Rises,” his third and, he says, his final Gotham City film. Christian Bale, now a newly minted Oscar winner, is back as the haunted hero and the supporting cast again includes Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine.

The newcomers this time include Hathaway and Tom Hardy (who worked with Nolan on “Inception”), who plays Bane, the hulking, masked terrorist who will test the hero physically more than any of his previous foes, Nolan says. The movie is set eight years after the events of “The Dark Knight,” the billion-dollar 2008 hit that will be a tough act to follow, especially considering the Oscar-winning performance by Heath Ledger as the Joker.

Hathaway says the new script (based on a story by Nolan and David S. Goyer and written by the director and his brother, Jonathan Nolan)  is strong and that she and Hardy have Nolan on their side, which counts for a lot in a franchise that has been defined by his carefully crafted shadows and symbols.

“Gotham City is full of grace,” Hathaway said. “You look at Heath’s performance as the Joker, there was a lot of madness there but there was also a grace and he had a code there. There’s a lot of belief and codes of behavior in Gotham and my character has one, too. A lot of the way she moves and interacts with people is informed by her worldview. Chris has given us all such complex, defined, sophisticated worldviews that it’s just a matter of doing your homework and getting underneath the character’s skin.”

The character has considerable history. She first appeared in the comics in the spring of 1940 as a villain driven more by profit than madness or blood lust, and Batman’s attempts to reform her would become a staple part of her mythology – as would the sexual tension between the Bat and the Cat.

“I really got into the comics after I was cast and I like that when she made her first appearance she meets Bruce Wayne and says ‘Let go of me or I’ll claw your eyes out,’ and he says, ‘Careful, claws in or papa spank,’” Hathaway said. “So I’m glad we’ve come a long way since then. I’m not saying anything against Bob Kane, though.”

Kane, the credited creator of Batman (writer Bill Finger is now acknowledged as co-creator but wasn’t at the time), said that the movie star Hedy Lamarr was a key inspiration for Catwoman, so Hathaway did a deep dive into the Vienna native’s films.

“I know this sounds odd, but her breathing is extraordinary,” Hathaway said. “She takes these long, deep, languid breaths and exhales slowly. There’s a shot of her in [the 1933 film] ‘Ecstasy’ exhaling a cigarette and I took probably five breaths during her one exhale. So I started working on my breathing a lot.”

Hathaway began her career in tiara mode with “The Princess Diaries” films and “Ella Enchanted” but now, at 29, she has plenty of genre distance between herself and “role model for children” roles (as she called those early films) with projects as varied as “The Devil Wears Prada,” “Brokeback Mountain,” “Alice in Wonderland” and “Love and Other Drugs.”

During a break between scenes last summer on the London location shoot, while still wearing her Catwoman suit, Hathaway killed time by doing a crossword puzzle, talking about politics and, when things got too drab, launching into a Tina Turner dance routine while singing “Proud Mary.” The actress said that Nolan’s set is the most well-organized operation she had ever seen, that the pressure that comes with it is welcome, and that for cast and crew “it’s a pleasure to give your best.”

Nolan, in a later interview in Los Angeles, said that Hathaway brought a special skill set to the role.

“She had something very important we needed for this character — she’s an incredibly talented but naturalistic actress, which makes her great in film. She also has terrific theatrical skill so she can project a persona and there’s a big aspect of the character that is a persona. She’s a multi-layered character and we needed a great actress that could rise to that challenge.”
 

As Catwoman, she follows in the feline footsteps of Halle Berry, Michelle Pfeiffer, Julie Newmar, Eartha Kitt and Lee Meriwether as actresses who have played the character in film or television. Newmar has already given her blessing to he newest member of the club, saying Hathaway will be “marvelous,” and Hathaway appreciates it. At the same time, the new Catwoman says that  for her particular character, the past is really never as important as her present.

“What’s come before doesn’t limit or even affect this new version,” Hathaway said. “It doesn’t affect me because each Catwoman – and this is true in the comics as well – she is defined by the context of the Gotham City created around her. Catwoman is so influenced by Gotham and whoever is creating Gotham at the time. Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman was informed by Tim Burton’s Gotham and Eartha Kitt was informed by Adam West’s Gotham. You have to live in whatever the reality of the world is and whatever Gotham is.”

— Geoff Boucher

COMMENTS
Be the first to post a comment!


Post A Comment:




  • It's 2020! Start booking roles in commercials, fashion, films, theater and more with The Agency Online!

  • NEW WORKSHOP with Barbara Barna & Sean De Simone!

    Hi Everyone and Happy Summer! Sean at Sean De Simone casting and Barbara Barna are teaming up for a super informative and fun Hosting for Home Shopping workshop. A great opportunity for established or experienced TV Hosts and Experts interested in learning how to get noticed and how to get in....
  • MASTERCLASS W. Robin Carus & David John Madore

    A Special Offer for the Agency Community, from one of our favorite NYC Casting Directors! EMAIL FacetheMusicWithUs@gmail.com Or Eventbrite To Sign Up! Class Size is Limited.
  • Don't Fall Into The Comparison Trap

    Hi Everyone! As the second installment in an ongoing series of features by the Agency's amazing community, here's some sage advice from our own Regina Rockensies; a humble (& awesome)veteran we've had the pleasure of working with for a long time. Have an excellent week! : ) - The Agency....
  • One Model's Agreement

    Hi Everyone! As the first piece in an ongoing series of original articles by the Agency community, here's a short reflection on some of the values of professional acting & modeling that we can all keep in mind for our next casting. Good luck on your castings &shoots this week! : ) -....




 
home       castings&news       privacy policy       terms and conditions      contact us      browser tips
Official PayPal Seal