Zoë Kravitz has won the hearts of The Batman fans with her interpretation of Catwoman for Matt Reeves’ film. The actress has given numerous interviews to talk about her new character. Recently, she revealed that this was not the first time she auditioned for the film and accused the racism she suffered on that occasion.
Kravitz revealed that she auditioned for a supporting role in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises with bitter results. Moreover, she clarified that the film’s producers didn’t receive her well. Zoë claimed they rejected her from the casting because of her “skin color and too urban appearance.”
Cosmopolitan UK, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
In an interview with The Guardian, Zoë Kravitz accused racism in the casting of this film, saying: “I don’t know if it came directly from Chris Nolan. I think it was probably a casting director of some sort or an assistant casting director… Being a woman of color and being an actress and being told at the time that I couldn’t do my reading because of the color of my skin, and the word ‘urban’ being thrown around like that, that was the really difficult thing about that moment.” The Catwoman interpreter said that living that moment in the audition was complicated. Still, she made it clear that she did not believe that director Christopher Nolan was the one who rejected her.
Is Zoë Kravitz the best Catwoman?
Kravitz’s role as Catwoman has been one of the most acclaimed of the film. The public places her directly on the podium of the best Catwoman in the character’s history, along with Michelle Pfeiffer, Anne Hathaway, and Halle Berry. In fact, the three actresses who have played the character on the big screen gave their support in the networks to this new Catwoman. Pfeiffer, who gave life to Tim Burton’s Batman Returns character, applauded Kravitz’s publication. Hale Berry commented: “Yay! Can’t wait… meow!”. And the latest to embody the character on film, Anne Hathaway, dedicated a loving Instagram post to her with a photo of Zoë Kravitz with the caption, “Biggest congrats to Zoë Kravitz for landing the role of a lifetime. Well, of one of her lifetimes. Enjoy the ride, Selina.”
Currently, the networks are ablaze in the eternal debate of which was the best Batman or the best movie, and even the best Catwoman. Many are putting Zoe Kravitz’s performance at the level of excellently we got from Michelle Pfeiffer, in 1992.
As we can only imagine, the person who rejected Zoe Kravitz because of her skin color must be regretting that decision looking at her take all the fame that she could not enjoy at the time.
Recently the industry has changed for the better, and this type of situation is becoming less frequent, but it still happens. Zoe Kravitz’s complaint highlights just how non-inclusive the entertainment industry is, especially when playing characters as iconic as DC’s heroes.
The Batman: a blockbuster
The film co-starring Zoe Kravitz has become the highest-grossing 2022 release. So far, it grosses $248 million worldwide and is the second post-Pandemic to surpass $120 million in the U.S., just behind Spider-Man: No Way Home. This success has put the film front and center for fans of the DC universe and film critics. The Internet is pulling out all the stops and picking apart every last detail of the Matt Reeves-directed film.
Another critical aspect of The Batman’s release has been the strong bet on theaters. In 2021, Warner Bros carried out the simultaneous release in theaters and on the streaming platform HBO Max. The Batman is showing exclusively in movie theaters. However, this exclusivity will only last until April 19, when HBO Max will release it. We will have to wait and see its results between now and that date.