Here's How Zoe Kravitz Actually Landed The Role Of Catwoman
Zoe Kravitz will be playing Catwoman in the upcoming film "The Batman," and hers is always an enviable role when it comes around. The '60s "Batman" TV show had not one, not two, but three actresses portray the foe/love interest/frenemy of the Caped Crusader: Julie Newmar originated the role, Lee Merriwether portrayed her in the camp classic movie, and Eartha Kitt purred her way through the part in Season 3.
The most contentious contest for Catwoman came during pre-production for "Batman Returns." Sean Young came to the Warner Bros. lot dressed as Catwoman, and later wore the costume on "The Joan Rivers Show." Young thought she was just being playful, but the tabloid culture of the day did not view her actions with the same grace. "What begins as a stunt becomes a substantive discussion about how Young's specific experience exposes some of the very real barriers confronting actresses at the time — although that's not how it was discussed by the press or within the industry at large," wrote Ethan Alter for Yahoo News. "Instead, the focus remained on her 'crazy' choice of costume, not the conversation she hoped to start."
Luckily, Zoe Kravitz is working in a marginally kinder Hollywood and had a much easier time campaigning for the role of Selina Kyle.
Kravitz brought her full self to meetings with Matt Reeves
Unlike in Sean Young's time, Zoe Kravitz wasn't punished for being occasionally prickly while courting "The Batman" director Matt Reeves. "The thing that I tried to keep in check throughout, though, was just wanting to be agreeable and likeable to get the role," she told AnOther magazine. "It was important to give him an idea of what it's really like to work with me. To say what I really think and, if we're on set together, to ask the questions I want to ask."
Ironically, it was this guarded enthusiasm that Kravitz believes won her the role. "I tried to come at it from the angle where I am showing him what I see and feel about this character," she said. "I believe that's why it happened and I got the role."
Selina Kyle is a sometimes prickly character. Often characterized as an orphan who had to grow up tough on the streets of Gotham, she is as slow to warm as the cats she adores. Casting Kravitz because she wasn't fawning in the interview process shows that Reeves grasps the detached, independent nature of the character.