When Anne Hathaway walked into her first meeting with Christopher Nolan for the final chapter of his Batman trilogy, she didn't think she was auditioning for Selina Kyle. She was convinced she was there for Harley Quinn.
She wore this wild, "beautiful-but-mad" Vivienne Westwood top with stripes and flat, Joker-style shoes. She was even giving Nolan these creepy, mischievous little grins. About an hour into the conversation, Nolan casually mentioned, "It's Catwoman."
Talk about a pivot.
Anne Hathaway in The Dark Knight Rises eventually became one of the most polarizing yet ultimately celebrated parts of the film, but the road there was a mess of "Hatha-hate" and physical punishment. Most people remember the suit. They remember the Batpod. But they forget that before the first trailer even dropped, the internet had basically decided she was going to ruin the movie.
The Casting Backlash and the "Slinky" Shift
Honestly, the "Hatha-hate" era of the early 2010s was peak internet toxicity. People were obsessed with the idea that Hathaway was "too nice" or "too Disney" to play a gritty cat burglar in Nolan’s hyper-realistic Gotham. Fans were still mourning the hyper-sexualized, chaotic energy of Michelle Pfeiffer’s 1992 performance. They wanted leather and whips.
Hathaway gave them tactical goggles and a high-tech skeleton key.
📖 Related: Did Mac Miller Like Donald Trump? What Really Happened Between the Rapper and the President
Once she realized she wasn't playing Harley, her entire energy changed. She described the shift as "Now okay, we're slinky." She had to move away from the "crazy" vibe and into something more precise. This version of Selina Kyle wasn't a cat-themed villain; she was a world-class grifter. She used her femininity as a weapon, sure, but mostly she just outsmarted everyone in the room.
That Impossible Training Routine
If you think the costume looked tight, you should see the workout logs. Nolan didn't just want Hathaway to look the part; he wanted her to be able to do the stunts. He point-blank told her he didn't want an actor who would do two takes and get tired. He pointed to Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s grueling work on Inception as the gold standard.
She rose to the challenge. Her regime included:
- Five days a week of rigorous weight training.
- An hour and a half of dance daily to nail that "feline" movement.
- Martial arts training focusing on grace and proper stance.
- Stunt rehearsals that lasted for hours in the freezing Iceland cold.
She once described the difference between acting and action like the difference between cooking and baking. In acting, you're "tasting" the scene and adjusting. In action, it's like baking: if you put in the exact amount of "flour" (reps/practice), it works.
The physical toll was real. During those final helicopter shots in Iceland, she was sprinting for hours on end. When they finally yelled "cut" after a grueling two-hour extension, she famously cursed out the sunset and the "elves" of Iceland because she was so done with the costume.
👉 See also: Despicable Me 2 Edith: Why the Middle Child is Secretly the Best Part of the Movie
The Secret of the Goggles
One of the coolest design choices in The Dark Knight Rises is the mask. In the comics, Catwoman always has those iconic ears. But in Nolan’s world, "ears" don't serve a tactical purpose.
Lindy Hemming, the costume designer, came up with a brilliant solution. Selina wears high-tech night-vision goggles. When she flips them up onto the top of her head, the shape naturally creates the silhouette of cat ears. It’s a bit of genius that bridges the gap between comic book camp and military-grade realism.
Hathaway insisted that everything on the suit had to have a purpose. Nothing was there for "fantasy." Even those serrated heels she wears? They weren't just for height. They were used as weapons in several fight sequences.
Why Her Performance Still Matters
Looking back, Hathaway’s Selina Kyle is arguably the most "comic-accurate" version of the character in terms of her skills. She isn't a supernatural entity or a woman who went "crazy" after falling out of a window. She’s a survivor.
She plays Selina as a woman who is constantly acting. One second she’s a terrified maid screaming for help, and the next she’s taking out three guards without breaking a sweat. It’s a meta-performance. She’s an actress playing a character who is also an actress.
✨ Don't miss: Death Wish II: Why This Sleazy Sequel Still Triggers People Today
The Actionable Takeaway for Fans and Creators
If you're looking at Anne Hathaway in The Dark Knight Rises as a case study in character development, here is what you should actually take away:
- Subtlety wins: You don't need a tail or a whip to be Catwoman. The movement and the "slinky" mindset do the work.
- Form follows function: If you're designing a character, give their "gimmicks" a logical reason to exist.
- Ignore the "noise": Casting backlash is almost always wrong in hindsight. Performance speaks louder than a pre-release tweet.
Next time you watch the film, pay attention to the scene where she disappears from the rooftop while Batman is talking. It’s the first time anyone has ever done that to him. The look on Christian Bale's face says it all: "So that's what that feels like."
To really appreciate the depth she brought, go back and watch her "The girl's gotta eat" scene. It’s the perfect distillation of her version of the character—pragmatic, dangerous, and always three steps ahead of the smartest man in the room.
If you're interested in more behind-the-scenes Batman lore, you should check out the technical specs of the Batpod, which Hathaway actually had to learn the mechanics of to look authentic on screen.