Anne Hathaway’s initial efforts to audition for the role of Harley Quinn for The Dark Knight trilogy makes her Catwoman look very different once you learn about it. The Dark Knight film trilogy features some of the best superhero movie performances of all time, with Christian Bale’s Batman and Heath Ledger’s Joker in particular celebrated ever since the actors first appeared in the roles on screen.
Learning the broader behind-the-scenes stories surrounding these castings also tends to make them all the more impressive, as evidenced by how much more strikingly good Bale and Ledger’s performances feel with the added knowledge that the initial news of their casting was met with some criticism from those who didn’t think they had the capacity to play their respective roles.
Anne Hathaway’s Catwoman – who plays a central role in The Dark Knight Risesthe final chapter of The Dark Knight trilogy – is another good example of this. The story of how Hathaway landed the role despite coming to her audition prepared to try out for the role of Harley Quinn makes her actual on-screen role look even more different — and all the more impressive — on rewatch for more reasons than one.
Hearing How Anne Hathaway Initially Tried To Audition For The Dark Knight Rises As Harley Quinn Makes Her Catwoman Look Different
When discussing the audition that would eventually land her the role of The Dark Knight trilogy’s CatwomanAnne Hathaway also mentioned that she was initially unaware that the role she was being considered for was that of the feline villain-turned-anti-hero, believing that she was instead being cast as a completely different character – namely Harley Quinn. In the interview with BBC 1 Radio (via CBR), Hathaway explained:
“I came in and I had this lovely Vivienne Westwood kind of beautiful-but-crazy tailored top with stripes all over it. And I was wearing these flat Joker-ey shoes. And I was trying to give Chris (Nolan) these crazy little smiles. About an hour into the meeting, he said ‘Well, I’m sure I don’t need to tell you this, but that’. And I shifted into another gear. ‘Now okay, we’re slim. We’re slim. And I hate my shirt. I love my shirt, but I hate it right now.'”
This revelation makes it doubly impressive that Hathaway was cast as Catwoman and did so well in the role – as she had clearly been preparing to demonstrate a very different character to director Christopher Nolan – and also makes her performance in The Dark Knight Rises all the more interesting as there are specific scenes where you can glimpse what the actor’s Harley Quinn would have been like.
Anne Hathaway’s Harley Quinn hopes actually make her catwoman more impressive
Given Anne Hathaway’s initial casting history for The Dark Knight Rises began with her believing she was ready for the role of Harley Quinn, it’s all the more engaging to note that she would go on to deliver one of the best and most iconic Catwoman performances of all time, delivering an iteration of Selina Kyle that’s striking enough you’d be forgiven for thinking she always intended to play the character.
However, this performance is only more impressive with the context that things began with Hathaway vying for the role of Harley Quinn, in part because moments like her stabbing a man in the heel with a concealed weapon after he held a gun to her head and asked her if her shoes hurt — and asked “do they?“- or her delivery of the line”where’s the fun in that?” to Batman after he tells her not to kill their enemies when the pair fight side-by-side suggests the actress would have made a formidable Harley Quinn as well.
Ultimately, seeing Hathaway’s Catwoman on screen after learning about her former Harley Quinn hopeful serves to emphasize another side of the anti-hero, further emphasizing the nuances the actress brought to the character. The Dark Knight trilogy, and shows the range she is capable of when it comes to big screen roles.
