Anne Hathaway walked into The Dark Knight Rises audition with the wrong villain.
Hathaway has revealed that she spent a full week preparing to meet Christopher Nolan, convinced the director was considering her for Harley Quinn rather than Catwoman.
She did not prepare subtly.
“I spent a week developing demonic Harley Quinn energy,” Hathaway explained, revealing that she leaned fully into the idea. Her preparation included a “weird” wardrobe choice, complete with jester flats and a striped top.
She imagined herself bringing the chaotic energy of Batman’s most unpredictable villain to the screen.
Hathaway thought she had figured out Nolan’s plan. After all, Michelle Pfeiffer’s iconic Catwoman performance in Batman Returns had set an incredibly high bar.
Hathaway assumed the filmmaker would avoid revisiting the character.
“It can’t be Catwoman because Michelle Pfeiffer was so iconic,” Hathaway recalled thinking. “It’s going to be Harley Quinn!”
She was completely wrong.
Two hours into her meeting with Nolan, the director revealed that the role was actually Catwoman. Hathaway had to instantly switch gears.
“So, I just decided that I was like, ‘Well, this top is very sensual,’” she joked. “And I was going to be very… like a psychopath. I changed personalities like a psychopath.”
The last-minute transformation worked. And history was made with Hathaway as Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises.
Hathaway has often credited Nolan with helping rebuild her career during one of the most difficult periods of her public life.
Following her Oscar win for Les Misérables, Hathaway faced intense online backlash and found herself struggling with a sudden shift in public perception.
In 2024, Hathaway told Vanity Fair that many people were hesitant to hire her because of the negative attention surrounding her, but Nolan gave her an opportunity when others wouldn’t.
“I had an angel in Christopher Nolan,” Hathaway said, explaining that he offered her one of the most meaningful roles of her career in Interstellar.
