Anne Hathaway

Anne Hathaway

Anne Hathaway portrayed Selina Kyle/Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises.

Significant roles

• Meghan Green in Get Real (1999-2000)
• Mia Thermopolis in The Princess Diaries (2001)
• Jean Sabin in The Other Side of Heaven (2001)
• Haru (voice) in The Cat Returns (2002)
• Madeline Bray in Nicholas Nickleby (2002)
• Ella in Ella Enchanted (2004)
• Mia Thermopolis in The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004)
• Red (voice) in Hoodwinked! (2005)
• Allison Lang in Havoc (2005)
• Lureen Newsome in Brokeback Mountain (2005)
• Andy Sachs in The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
• Jane Austen in Becoming Jane (2007)
• Agent 99 in Get Smart (2008)
• Kym in Rachel Getting Married (2008)
• Claire in Passengers (2008)
• Emma Allan in Bride Wars (2009)
• Jenny (voice) and Princess Penelope (voice) in The Simpsons (2009-2010)
• Liz in Valentine's Day (2010)
• White Queen in Alice in Wonderland (2010)
• Mother Maggie (voice) in Family Guy (2010)
• Maggie Murdock in Love and Other Drugs (2010)
• Jewel (voice) in Rio (2011)
• Emma in One Day (2011)
• Selina Kyle/Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
• Fantine in Les Miserables (2012)
• Jewel (voice) in Rio 2 (2014)

Quotes

• "It makes you work harder, I take a chance not that something may work. But there is a certain satisfaction in that, towards the end of the day did everything."
• "That's a little embarrassing. It's a bit personal. I'd rather talk about than acting on my training."
• "I've always thought that skinny was the goal, but with this job I also have to be strong."
• "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."
• "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."
• "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’. So I’m glad we’ve come a long way since then. I’m not saying anything against Bob Kane, though."
• "I know this sounds odd, but her breathing [Hedy Lamarr's] 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."
• "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."
• "About an hour into our meeting he said, 'It's Catwoman and I went 'Oh no, I played this wrong'. I didn't think they would revisit that character because Michelle's performance is so iconic. But Chris just does his own thing."
• "I read it through once really fast and I went back and read over all of my scenes and tried to memorize them as much as I could instantly. It’s cool, you can call Chris and ask “what is this scene about again?” and eventually you get a copy of the script. But everything is done with the upmost secrecy. When I screen tested, I took the sides home with me. And it was really awkward because the producer had to hunt me down to get the sides back so that they could be destroyed. So it’s implied that this should be treated with a certain amount of secrecy, which is great because I think it is so much more fun to discover it in the movie theatre when there is so much anticipation about the movie. I’m excited for people to discover it when it’s all pieced together the way Chris wants it."
• "I don’t know if I had any influence."
• "When Chris Nolan is your director you are like, “I trust that, I’m wrong.” I have no problems bowing down to Chris’ vision. I’ve loved every movie he’s made; it’s an honor to be in one of them. And I think that if something doesn’t make sense, forcing yourself to understand it from his perspective makes you better. And he’s right, not “he’s usually right.” He’s right."
• " I loved Catwoman’s sense of humor. I love how sly she is. I love how she, to use a cat metaphor, walks the fence and you don’t know which side she’s going to come down on. She’s totally independent. And let’s face it, she’s badass."
• "Yes, I do. I don’t actually know the name of it – sorry this makes me sound like an airhead. The stunt department are all phenomenal fighters and so I’ve just been mimicking them and doing whatever they tell me to do. I do all sorts of kicks. I do a roundhouse kick, I think its all mixed martial arts. I don’t know what the martial arts technique is called but I’ve been doing it in heels!"
• "The Catwoman suit. It was a psychological terrorist, the suit, thoughts of my suit, changing my life so I would fit into that suit ... it dominated my year."
• "If [Nolan] is interested then I'm very interested. I think it would be lovely to see more of her but only if it's with the right people, she lives in this Gotham City and so it would have to be established by the people who have made this Gotham City. For me, at least."
• "No one’s talked to me about it [a Catwoman spinoff]. I would love it. I actually, it’s so embarrassing, I was at a press Q & A thing the other night for a screening of The Dark Knight, and the moderator asked me, ‘So what was it like to say goodbye to the character?’ And I burst into tears, because I miss her. It just makes me cry. I miss her. I love Selena so much and I love her presence in my life and getting to… I’m crying again."
• "There would always be interest in the wonderful character who I love so much that in a recent Q&A where I had to get up and talk about it somebody asked me what it was like to say goodbye to her and I burst into tears. Which is just about the most un-Selina Kyle thing you can do."
• "If there’s a spin-off, nobody’s talked to me about it. I’m a big fan of the idea, but there’s nothing actually happening – it just kind of exists in my imagination."
• "I wish I could say something, but it’s going to be his experience. Keep a journal, which I’m sure he does some version of that already, just to remember it. Don’t be afraid to make it your own. In my case, people criticized, criticized, criticized until they saw it, and then a lot of people liked what I did. Don’t listen to anyone, do your thing. They cast you for a reason. I think he’ll be remarkable, I’m excited to see it."
• "I would be totally up for doing it. If Chris was involved. For me, the thing that made doing that part particularly fun was that she existed in his Gotham. Without him I don’t think it would be the same thing. But I also wonder about that part. If because she’s a thief, it’s not better to have her be a small part in a larger film. So she can go through and steal aspects of the film. But when the focus is squarely on her, I don’t know if it works as well."
• "Oh yeah that’d be fun. I’d definitely love that. I want to play her again. I don’t know – this is just speculation, because I do think about it sometimes – I think she’s got an amazing back story and it would be great to see her get her own film. But I don’t know – she is someone who… mystery serves her well so I don’t know what a whole film would do. But who knows?"
• "I loved that character and I had such a blast playing her. I’m not sure how it would work because I think the Chris Nolan chapter of the Batman story has been wrapped up and I’m part of that, but I love the DC Universe and it would be fun to take a trip back."
• "I don’t think you can. It sort of goes with the territory when you accept it and receive it from the last Catwoman. I was shown such generosity from Halle and from Michelle, and so I would do that the next time as well."

Trivia

• Hathaway was considered for the role of Lois Lane in Man of Steel before Amy Adams was cast.