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million dollar lady

Anne Hathaway Is Saying Some Interesting Things About The Dark Knight Rises And Catwoman

by Jill Pantozzi | 12:32 pm, December 29th, 2011


Cast members of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises have been giving the smallest bits of information they could give about the film in recent interviews. But Anne Hathaway recently got to chatting with Hero Complex and gave a whole bunch of info about her character Selina Kyle, Gotham City and more! Read on, spoilers will be covered up. 

“I love the costume,” Hathaway said last summer. “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.”

And Hero Complex made an interesting observation about her costume from a scene they viewed. Particularly her boots. “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.”

We knew about the goggle/ear thing but not the stiletto saws. I still may not like the character having heels at all but the fact that they will actually serve a purpose makes me feel a bit better. Plus, this makes some footage I saw of her stunt double a while back make much more sense. What I saw did not look like straight up heels, although set shots of Hathaway herself seem to say otherwise.

Hathaway also had a bit to say about her characters’ comic book past. “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,’” she said. “So I’m glad we’ve come a long way since then. I’m not saying anything against Bob Kane, though.”

And speaking of Kane, the Batman co-creator had said in the past that he took inspiration for Catwoman from movie star Hedy Lamarr. So, Hathaway did what great actresses do and did research into her films. “I know this sounds odd, but her breathing is extraordinary,” she 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.”

Now here’s a bit of the film the site describes along with a line from Hathaway (highlight to view):  ”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.”

Of Gotham City itself, Hathaway had this to say. “Gotham City is full of grace. 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,” she said. “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.”

Obviously, Hathaway is stepping into a very iconic role but as far as her approach she says she went in trying to make it her own. “What’s come before doesn’t limit or even affect this new version,” she 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.”

I’m liking Hathaway more and more.

(via Hero Complex)

Previously in The Dark Knight Rises

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  • Anonymous

    Personally, the goggles/ears design bothers me. It doesn’t make sense that she would have no cowl or hood to protect her head and keep her hair out of the way and eye protection. That’s the whole point of her costume design in the comics. She’s a professional cat burglar and fighter, why wouldn’t you always have goggles/eye protection/HUD and always have head protection/hair protection? It makes practical sense. That’s why I’m perplexed since Nolan is usually into the practical elements of why a character looks a certain way.
     And, honestly, the comics Catwoman costume just looks fantastic and realistic. Hathaway, having her hair fly around makes no sense and looks dumb. If you’re going to have her hair out, at least give her a hair cut so it’s not all over the place and in the way.
    I have the same problem with Hawkeye in the Avengers film- no head protection at all! Why?!! At least throw some goggles on him, jeez.

  • Anonymous

    Definitely agree.  Really puzzled about the costume design.  It’s pretty nonsensical for her profession.

  • Anonymous

    I do agree with you but I would like to offer a rebuttal.

    Lots of women in comics still have their hair out. True, Catwoman’s current costume (note: CURRENT, she had her hair flying around a lot in the past before it got shortened) has her hair covered, but not everyone does. Stephanie Brown wore a headband when she was Robin and had her hair sticking out of the cowl as Batgirl, much like Barbara Gordon’s look. Talia al Ghul always seems to have her hair down and her head clear. Harley Quinn used to wear a cowl that did keep her hair out of the way but hardly provided protection from attacks. And now she’s just pigtails (though that redesign is high up on the list of impractical costumes). I would bring up characters like Supergirl, Wonder Woman, and Starfire but all of them have super powers that make the added protection less needed. 
    Really, Catwoman seems to be one of the few women in DC Comics that bothers with any real head protection and hair maintenance (And I will admit that multiple incarnations of her feature this). And while I do think that she should have some sort of cowl in Nolan’s movie, I also don’t think it’s a leap of logic to say that he seems to be basing that part of the design off of the Julie Newmar look. Which, given the iconic nature of it, would seem to make some sort of sense. Also, it may be an attempt to set her apart from Rachel Dawes in terms of femininity and sexuality, or to separate her from whatever the hell Marion Cotillard is doing in this film. 
    And after writing that post I realized I wasn’t trying to defend the costume choice so much as trying to explain it to myself in an attempt to understand why Nolan’s functional universe doesn’t include a freaking cowl for her.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Eric-Bazilio/100000132443742 Eric Bazilio

    I love when actors actually do their homework.

  • Anonymous

    You do realize that Nolan hasn’t said anything about her being a burglar right? Much less a burglar with a secret identity. 

    If you look at the trailers, she’s probably a terrorist. A buxom terribly beautiful terrorist. Just like all the other terrorists.

  • Adam Whitley

    With creeping horror I realized that you just might be right. I have to believe that Nolan at least will just make her a mercenary.

  • SailorAstarte

    I agree that if they wanted a practical costume, then simply use what’s presently in comics, designed by Darwyn Cooke. Everything has a function to it; it’s NOT fantasy, and that’s why it is so appealing to a lot of people.

    If I remember right, her boots have spikes in them that pop out when she presses down on her heals. Added to her claws, she has weaponry on both hands and feet, and also allows her to climb walls. She has short hair again in the comics because, as Wildcat taught her, long hair can be used against her. Granted, I have always preferred Selina with long hair, but if you want things to be realistic and practical, just use the comic book outfit.

    Although I appreciate her doing extensive homework on Selina, and seems to genuinely care about the character, I dislike that she refers to Catwoman as being defined by Gotham City; granted, it can shape her, but to reference Adam West’s “Batman” as if it is something more than just a campy show with some good things about it, and that defined Catwoman’s reality … then, I guess the current Gotham City has defined that Catwoman be Batman’s play thing who is “sexy, sexy, sexy, and dirty.”

    It reminds me of Halle Berry’s statement about how her Catwoman allowed every other Catwoman to exist, and that she wouldn’t be treading on anybody’s feet. Granted, it did allow for multiple Catwomen to exist in one universe, but that also meant that there were multiple Batmen.

    At the very least, why can’t an actor say, I’ve done research, and I feel I’m taking the best aspects of each version of Catwoman out there, but I’m also adding something of mine,” and not an almost, “I saw what was there but I improved upon it.” But, maybe I’m just super-sensitive.

     I’m really happy that Anne DOES indeed seem to be passionate about the role, and that she is aware how iconic Selina is; I love her enthusiasm, and how excited she is about this. She had said when she was called to say she was co-hosting the Oscar’s, she had immediately answered the phone with, “I’m Catwoman!,” then “wait, what?” She was more excited about being Catwoman than anything with the Oscar’s.

    In any event, it seems more than anything that Nolan has “practicality” mixed with Julie Newmar, for when she has her “ears” up, she definitely looks like Newmar’s Catwoman, with even the body suit with a similar feel to it. The boots and gloves are rather Batman: TAS. Ultimately, I’m just happy that Selina gets her due, and can maybe wipe away the negative conontations that went to the character due to the “Catwoman” movie. Furthermore, Anne IS a smart young woman, so I think if she was really against the heals as being more sex than practicality, she’d say something.

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