Anne Hathaway who plays Selina Kyle aka Catwoman in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises recently sat down with HeroComplex & discussed her perception of the part, her inspiration & her costume even referencing Austrian-American actress Hedy Lamarr the original inspiration for the character Catwoman. Hathaway also revealed Catwoman is allied with Tom Hardy's Bane! The Dark Knight Rises also stars Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman & will be released on July 20th 2012. Hit the jump to check it out.
On the Catsuit.
Hathaway: "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"
On Gotham.
Hathaway: "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. 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."
On getting into Comics.
Hathaway: "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."
On using Hedy Lamarr's (Bob Kane's inspiration for Catwoman) work as inspiration.
Hathaway: "I know this sounds odd, but her breathing is extraordinary. 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."
On previous versions of Catwoman.
Hathaway: "What’s come before doesn’t limit or even affect this new version. 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."
HeroComplex also revealed a detailed scene description from The Dark Knight Rises which reveals Hathaway's Catwoman is more vicious than previously though:
Scene Description: "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 night-vision goggles that, when not in use, flip up and resemble feline ears."
