Christopher Nolan’s films are known for keeping secrets, and Anne Hathaway has now revealed she walked into one of the biggest meetings of her career with the wrong character in mind. The Oscar-winning actor recently shared that she spent days preparing to play Harley Quinn because she believed that was the role Nolan wanted to discuss for The Dark Knight Rises. Instead, the filmmaker had an entirely different DC character waiting for her, leading to an unforgettable moment that ultimately changed her career.
Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Hathaway admitted she had convinced herself that Catwoman wasn’t an option because Michelle Pfeiffer’s portrayal had become so iconic. She believed Nolan was searching for a fresh interpretation of Harley Quinn instead, so she fully embraced that idea before their meeting. By the time she sat down with the director, she had already built an entire personality around the character. It turned out that all of those preparations were for the wrong role.
Anne Hathaway Reveals Her Catwoman Audition Surprise
Recalling the experience, Hathaway said, “Here’s the thing that worked in my favor: she’s a chameleon. So, I knew I was auditioning for… I was meeting with Chris [Nolan] for the female role in the Batman trilogy, the next installment. I thought that I’d gamed it out, because I was just like, ‘It can’t be Catwoman because Michelle Pfeiffer was so iconic… [gasp] It’s going to be Harley Quinn!'”
She explained that she completely immersed herself in that version of the character before the meeting. “So, I spent a week developing demonic Harley Quinn energy. I was wearing weird jester flats and a striped top,” Hathaway recalled. Everything changed once Nolan finally revealed the actual role he wanted to discuss.
Describing the awkward but amusing moment, Hathaway said, “And then, about two hours into our conversation, Chris is like, ‘So, the part’s Catwoman,’ and I was like, ‘Transform!’ So, I just then decided that I was like, ‘Well, this top is very sensual.’ And I was going to be very… like a psychopath. I changed personalities like a psychopath.” The quick switch clearly worked, as Hathaway eventually landed the role of Selina Kyle, earning praise from both critics and audiences when The Dark Knight Rises released in 2012.
Christopher Nolan Helped Revive Hathaway’s Career
Catwoman marked Hathaway’s first collaboration with Christopher Nolan, but it certainly wasn’t the last. She later reunited with the filmmaker for Interstellar in 2014, where she portrayed NASA scientist Dr. Amelia Brand, a role many fans still consider among her finest performances. The pair have now teamed up once again for Nolan’s upcoming epic The Odyssey, which is scheduled to arrive in theatres on July 17. Their long-running creative partnership has become one of the most successful actor-director collaborations in recent Hollywood.
Hathaway has also spoken openly about how Nolan supported her during one of the most difficult periods of her career. Following her Oscar-winning performance in Les Misérables, she became the subject of intense online criticism and negative public perception. In a 2024 interview with Vanity Fair, the actress reflected on how those reactions affected her career opportunities. She said, “A lot of people wouldn’t give me roles because they were so concerned about how toxic my identity had become online. I had an angel in Christopher Nolan, who did not care about that and gave me one of the most beautiful roles I’ve had in one of the best films that I’ve been a part of.”
Looking back now, Hathaway’s mistaken Harley Quinn preparation has become one of those rare Hollywood stories where everything worked out better than expected. Instead of playing the unpredictable Gotham villain she had imagined, she delivered a memorable performance as Catwoman in one of Nolan’s biggest blockbusters. More importantly, that unexpected casting opened the door to multiple collaborations with one of modern cinema’s most celebrated directors. With The Odyssey now set to hit theatres, audiences will soon see the duo reunite once again on the big screen.
