Talking to Empire Magazine, Michelle Pfeiffer has looked back on playing Catwoman in director Tim Burton's Batman Returns. "Immediately," the Dark Shadows star said when asked how quickly she accepted the iconic role. "I was halfway through the script when I said yes. Someone else was cast in the part and I remember being absolutely devastated and calling my agent and saying, 'How have I not had a meeting about this? Why have I not heard about it?' It was one of those things where Tim had someone in mind and went directly to them. So I was really bummed, but it was okay. When she [Annette Bening] fell out of it I was just leaving the country and got a call to say Tim wanted to meet me. So I went and he gave me the script and I got halfway through and said yes. But you know, honestly, I would have done it anyway, even without reading the script. But I was very happy that she was actually very well written."
"I think that she was someone so dark," added the actress on what it was that made the character so appealing to her. "Dark characters are always more interesting and she's really very dark. That whole split personality is interesting." Pfeiffer went on to reveal that she very nearly played Catwoman in a solo film helmed by Burton. "For a while, like a brief time, Tim was interested in maybe doing a Catwoman movie, but that didn't really last very long." Of course, the femme fatale ended up getting her own big screen outing in 2004's panned Catwoman, starring Halle Berry. As for the latest actress who will play Selina Kyle on the big screen, Anne Hathaway, Pfeiffer had this to say about The Dark Knight Rises star. "Oh, I think she's great. I'm actually very much looking forward to seeing her in the role. I'm a big fan of hers and I think she has everything you need for that role. She has the humour, she can go to dark places, she's obviously very talented. I think she's going to be really good." And would she have played Catwoman for Christopher Nolan if given the chance? "Oh sure. I definitely would have done it."
