The Batman might be a big-budget DC comic book adaptation, but for Zoë Kravitz, who plays Selina Kyle/Catwoman in the movie, it felt more like an indie film during production.
No stranger to the world of tentpoles, Kravitz has worked on several franchise movies in the past, including X-Men: First Class, Divergent, Mad Max: Fury Road and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. When AnOther Magazine noted that fans of DC's cinematic universe are particularly "hardcore," even more so than those for her earlier projects, Kravitz agreed.
"They are, and because I respect them so much I chose not to think about them when making the movie. If I’m thinking about wanting everyone to like it and wanting all the fans to like it, I’m not going to actually bring a real person to life. [Writer/director] Matt [Reeves] wrote a really interesting story with a complex character, and the relationships are really interesting. All I wanted to do was honor that story," she replied.
As much as she's known for her blockbuster output, Kravitz has earned far more critical acclaim as an actor for her work on smaller projects, most notably HBO's Big Little Lies series and Hulu's High Fidelity TV show. She described production on The Batman as being closer to her experience in the worlds of independent film and television, stating, "Sometimes with really big movies, it can feel like you’re just a puppet and part of this big machine. This felt like an independent movie in the way that there was real heart and soul and thought being put into the process and into every scene. It was incredibly collaborative."
"Matt’s very specific," she added. "It took him a year to make this because of COVID. We were in this bubble, really in this world, and it was an incredible experience. To spend a year of your life, and it’s very physically demanding... I had to be in very specific shape, and there’s a pandemic going on. I’m being zipped into a catsuit every day at 7am, working 12-hour days and then coming home and working out. It was intense."
The Batman opens in theaters on March 4, 2022, with Robert Pattinson playing Bruce Wayne/Batman opposite Kravitz as Catwoman, Paul Dano as Edward Nashton/Riddler and many more.
Source: AnOther Magazine