Anne Hathaway ‘Spent a Week’ Prepping for Harley Quinn Before ‘Dark Knight Rises’ Meeting; Nolan Didn’t Reveal Catwoman Until Two Hours Into Their Chat

Jul 7, 2026 3:36pm PT Anne Hathaway ‘Spent a Week’ Prepping for Harley Quinn Before ‘Dark Knight Rises’ Meeting; Nolan Didn’t Reveal Catwoman Until Two Hours Into Their Chat

By Zack Sharf

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Zack Sharf

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Anna Hathaway said on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast that she spent a full week channeling Harley Quinn before meeting Christopher Nolan for “The Dark Knight Rises” because she was convinced he was courting her to play the Batman villain. It wasn’t until two hours into their meeting that Hathaway discovered it was a meeting for Catwoman.

“Here’s the thing that worked in my favor: she’s a chameleon,” Hathaway said. “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!'”

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