How did Anne Hathaway become Catwoman? To portray Batman’s purring nemesis in Christopher Nolan’s 2012 movie “The Dark Knight Rises,” the actress realized that she needed to train to become stronger in order to perform her own stunts.
In an interview for VarietyActors on the subject of actors, Hathaway spoke to Hugh Jackman about the conversations he had with Nolan before dressing as Catwoman. Jackman worked with Nolan on the 2006 wizard drama “The Prestige”.
“You know how you have those jobs and you just say, ‘I don’t know how I’m going to go back to work because it was so much fun,'” Hathaway said. “I am a nerdy director. I love just looking for the best directors I can and then just looking at them. Chris’s entire approach to film is one of my favorites. He has broken it down to a minimum, but also his films are so huge and ornate. That combination of being really intentional about what we were doing, and it’s also very inspiring. “
Hathaway recalled Nolan’s advice to strengthen himself before shooting. “Chris sat me down and said, ‘It has nothing to do with your appearance. If we shoot tomorrow, I would be very happy. “
Related stories
Nolan referred him to another actor with whom he would work on a different film. “When we did ‘Inception,’ Joseph Gordon-Levitt trained for 12 weeks to do a four-day stunt sequence because he wanted to do each shot,” Hathaway recalled Nolan told him. “I want you to do all the stunt work you can. I need you to be strong enough to do that. I can’t let you be one of those actors who does one take, two takes and then you’re too tired. I want you to do everything. “
“That was what he told me to do that embrace the physical side of the character and really engage him,” Hathaway said.
Hathaway also recalled a specific detail from Nolan’s movie sets. “She doesn’t allow chairs, and her reasoning is that if she has chairs, people will sit, and if they are sitting, they are not working,” Hathaway said. “I mean, he has these amazing movies in terms of scope and ambition, technical prowess, and excitement. It always comes to the end on schedule and on budget. I think he’s got something on the chair.
VarietyThe number of Actors in Actors celebrates the best television performances of the year. Hathaway portrays a woman who is coming to terms with her bipolar disorder in the Amazon anthology series “Modern Love”. Jackman is receiving critical acclaim from his career for playing a school superintendent on HBO’s “Bad Education.”
Of over Variety Conversation with Jackman and Hathaway, read our full story here.
