The infamous Catwoman casting

I can't imagine Madonna doing two comic book films in a row. She thought she was an actress back then. My guess is her name was on a casting list with dozens of others and the casting director checked her interest/availability as is often the case.

So many actresses fought for that role. It was a coveted role back then.

Madonna was actually promised the very important role of Reporter #4.

I remember she did an interview with Jonathan Ross in 1992 before the Sex book came out. She was discussing acting and she referred to Michelle Pfeiffer in "Batman 2". So I call bulllshit on this one. She couldn't even refer it to by its proper name.

And she never mentioned she was up for the role in 1992.

I also don't believe Madonna turned down the Matrix. Can you imagine her in that film?

It seems odd that they would go from Madonna to Carrie Ann Moss.

The most famous woman in the role to an unknown? Doesn't sound like they were looking for stars if they ended up casting Moss whom I don't think was well known at all prior.

I can't Madonna turning down a film role

R7, she backed out of Music of the Heart, which was a terrible movie yet earned Meryl yet another Oscar nod. I always wonder if that ate away at Madonna.

This is the same woman who said she came to New York City with $35 in her pocket.

And the same woman who has named herself as a writer of a song when she added, maybe, one or two words.

I love Madonna, but she's often full of shit.

I do recall around the time when Express Yourself song/video came out, the MTV VJs and local disc jockies on the radio often referred to Madonna being in the running for the role of Catwoman in the next Batman film. I remember it clearly about 30 years ago, and comments ranged from where would she find the time during her extensive Blonde Ambition world tour, how tight the dominatrix style costume would look on her, etc. I believe she could have been in talks for that role, sure. Bitch, she's Madonna! lol

Also, when Express Yourself would play on local radio early in its rotation, the DJ would call her Crotch Woman, because she grabbed her Crotch in the video, and mentioned that Crotch Woman may be the next Catwoman in the new Batman movie, etc. I have a good memory of that Madonna music era.

Which song r9?

Pfeiffer was surprisingly good, but Bening would have brought real malice.

They could still CGI her into the role for future prints.

Pfeiffer was genuinely funny in the pre-Catwoman scenes. She reminds me of Annie Hall. She's so awkward and self-deprecating. I can't imagine Bening doing that.

Considering how much trouble the baby Bening gave up Catwoman for caused her I wonder if she ever regrets keeping the role and not getting rid of the baby.

I'd have been more diligent about my birth control if I had a great role like that coming up!

Yes, Madonna was in the running to play Catwoman. She was also considered for "The Fabulous Baker Boys," but she found the script "too mushy" and said no.

An interesting "what could have been" was "Showgirls." Joe Eszterhas' dream team was Drew Barrymore as Nomi and Madonna as Crystal, but alas it just wasn't to be.

I sort of doubt she was seriously considered for most of these films. Maybe she was mentioned but by 1989 I don't think she was in a place where she would be offered a film like Baker Boys outright.

She got so little mileage out of Desperately Seeking Susan. A year later Shanghai Surprise made her a joke and people thought she couldn't act. I think she dropped out of Ruthless People to do that film. (Bette Midler part)

Man if she really did turn down all these films she really screwed up her acting career. (and she really wanted one. I remember Matt Laurer asking her what she considers herself, a singer who acts and actress who sings etc and she said I think of myself as an actress.

OMG and having Meryl replace you and get an Oscar nomination (the only one she got that I don't think she deserved) must have stung.

She also turned down Blind Date, which was a crappy movie, but it might have given her more film career momentum.

R10

I also kinda remember Madonna's name being bandied about in tabloids - she was the world's most famous female provocatrice at the time and an actress of sorts - and they were also sure Robin Williams would be Riddler. Of course, Riddler wasn't used in Batman Returns so they may have only been going off rumors....though we do know now that they *did* consider Williams, first as Joker (to get Jack interest in taking the part) and later for Riddler (there too, Williams lost out).

Bening did just get an Oscar nomination and when she had to duck out, Pfeiffer was two-times nominated, so that suggests a certain caliber was preferred. But, they're all around the same age. It's possible that studio bosses originally were willing to roll the dice with Madonna as a stunt-casting move like they did with Whitney Houston in The Bodyguard, before they chose someone with more critical acclaim.

At the time, Madonna was a global superstar. Musically, she had also been at her apex, which wouldn't have hurt. She had fit into the world of Dick Tracey (though I can't remember if she was really good)--and that was a commercial success (as well as getting some award attention). And, she did a Woody Allen film. She was beginning to build credibility as an actress after all of those turkeys since DSS. Whilst it wouldn't have helped her get the role as they opened around the same time, she would prove to be quite good in A League of Their Own. She was doing well as an actress around that time, as far as the industry was concerned. Would she have been as good as Pfeiffer? I dunno. Chances are no, but I wouldn't rule it out.

Madonna sees herself as someone who likes to "rebel" against norms/establishment, which she did a lot of in the first decade of her career. So, she would have brought that to her performance. I think she would have been able to deliver some of the sexy playfulness with the preening scene, etc, as well (maybe have even provided something extra). However, Pfeiffer also found a self-loathing and frustration to make Selina Kyle more conflicted and three-dimensional, which I'm not sure Madonna would have been able to deliver, as we all know she takes herself quite seriously and part of her issue as an actress is that she can't make herself vulnerable. But, who knows.

I'm not sure why she would have lied about that offer. It's not like she made a whole list. She only mentioned two or three roles.

[quote]She was discussing acting and she referred to Michelle Pfeiffer in "Batman 2".

That's what it was called before they had to settle on a title as marketing started, R4. So, when she saw the script, it was "Batman 2."

[quote]Pfeiffer was surprisingly good, but Bening would have brought real malice

I like the way you think R13.

It's the acting performance that makes a person successful not being in the movie itself. Even if she did get all of those parts her terrible acting would've dragged those films down and they wouldn't quite turn out to be the successes they are today.

I grew up with Madonna. There was a time when many of us fans really believed she'd become an A-List award-winning actress. She DID win a GG for Evita, but she was awful in so many really bad movies. It was painful to us. I still hope she gets one more film to redeem herself.

Madonna was NOT offered Music From the Heart. She desperately wanted the part and wrote a letter to the director strongly requesting she be considered. But they offered it to Meryl, who took it, and that was that.

R23, wrong. From the CS Monitor: The story of making "Music of the Heart" is a drama of its own. It began with Madonna agreeing to play Guaspari and taking violin lessons for 10 weeks. Three weeks before production was to begin, she bowed out. It had been shaping up to be a great movie with Aidan Quinn, Gloria Estefan (making her film debut), and Angela Bassett in the cast.

I wish she had followed through with Music of the Heart. It actually would have been a challenge for her because this was based on a real person and she wouldn't be able to change things as she did for The Next Best Thing. I'm sure she would have hated Wes Craven but I have always been curious if he would have been able to get a good performance from her.

Abel Ferrara and Alan Parker, strong visionaries who were able to coax good performances from her. I think Craven could have succeeded.

I think DL has said Madonna demanded tons of script changes on Music of the Heart and Craven got mad and they parted ways.

R24, I believe Angela Bassett, and one or two others only jumped into the cast when Meryl agreed to do the film.

How was Halle Berry as Catwoman? I know the movie was supposed to be awful but how was her performance.

AnnE I felt was adequate in her incarnation but nobody (at least on film) comes close to Michelle.

R25, Madonna and Wes Craven parted ways because Madonna was demanding re-writes up to the shooting date and Craven would have none of it. Madonna had spent ten weeks learning to play the violin with Roberta Guaspari, whom the movie is about, and felt the story should focus more on Guaspari's life than on the students. Craven disagreed and wasn't about to tailor his movie to meet his lead actress' demands.

[Quote] The most famous woman in the role to an unknown?

They went from Lana Turner to Lee Remick. (And Marilyn Monroe to Lee Remick.)

What am I? chopped liver!

I purloined this puuuurfect picture

She definitely turned it down to do A League of Their Own which filmed at the same exact time, it was reported by the media back then too

Also, Batman is a Warner’s proper, Madonna was Queen of Time Warner by the early 90s, they wanted her not only to do BR but a tie in album too like Prince did for the first film

In early 1992, Madonna signed the biggest recording contract ever with Time Warner that also included print (the SEX book) no films through Time Warner, that same year both Forbes and Entertainment Weekly named her “the most powerful woman in show business “. We all know she’s a shit actress, for the most part, but she was definitely being offered a lot of interesting roles during that time, I think because even Hollywood was starstruck by her, same with Elvis and his film career and MJ if he wanted to be in movies

Madonna was also good friends with director Tim Burton, who went to her SEX book launch party

Madonna was cranking out hit after hit at the time. Casting her meant free ads for the movie on radio and TV in the form of her hit song(s) for the movie playing endlessly. So I'm sure she received many scripts.

However, when actors say they "turned down a role," they often mean that they were sent a script. Not an offer. I suspect Madonna is no different.

R33 again Madonna was the most powerful celebrity at Time Warner at that time, let’s keep that in mind, she also owned stock and lots of shares in the company, she created her Maverick record label and film company as a joint tie in with Time Warner (Warner Brothers)

I can't imagine that Annette Bening could have brought the sensuality and sarcastic fun that Michele did to the part. I think Michele was the best casting for that part.

Madonna? LOL. Really, Madonna is a LOL in any movie, really. Not everyone can be great in everything they attempt.

R28 I don’t know, but they should have put her in a wig. Cat woman has flowing sexy hair. A short Halle Berry cut Catwoman just doesn’t fly.

Short hair can be sexy.

Short hair can be sexy, but not on Catwoman.

Michelle's Catwoman had no visible hair...

...and comic book legends Darwyn Cooke and Adam Hughes portray(ed) Catwoman with an Audrey Hepburn look and hairdo.

So yes, shorter can work on Selina.

I cannot picture AB in the mask MP wore. Her head isn't the right shape. Michelle looked stunning in every shot. So glad AB couldn't do the film.

Michelle Pfeiffer really made the transition of the character powerful. She's such a loser in the beginning and so abused by Christopher Walken. IT makes her transition to the powerful Catwoman all the more interesting. (I can remember telling a therapist once as a teen that I felt like the pre-transformation Catwoman!

(I wonder if she thought of Annie Hall at all and Diane Keaton. There's a part that always reminds me of Keaton's la dee da and the awkward scene when the meet at the tennis club.-----When Pfeiffer first meets Batman he saves her from something. She sort of then stammers oh you're The Batman. I guess not the Batman but just Batman you go by. He kind of stares at her bewildered and then jumps away. She has kind of a la dee da moment then and says something like good going Selina.

Not only was Madonna considered as Catwoman for the first Batman film they were also considering casting her as Harley Quinn in the scrapped sequel Batman: Triumphant where Harley Quinn would be the Joker's daughter working with Scarecrow to get revenge against Batman. The critical panning of Batman and Robin prevented the sequel from happening. Thank God.

R42 yes I remember it was reported by E News and other outlets that she had even signed on as Harley Quinn

After seeing Bening's kittenish, seductive, malicious performance in The Grifters, I have no doubt she could have been great in the Selina Kyle role. She hasn't really been given a 'sexy' part since, but she also had quite a rocking body in that movie (she appears nude) and would have donned the catsuit well. Plus she delivers a good sassy, sardonic line in most of her roles.

On the other hand, Pfeiffer's performance and image is so embedded into the film that I find it all comes out in the wash anyway. I remember a lot of these names were really keen on the role in The Sheltering Sky around the same time (Pfeiffer, Bening, Close, even DL fav Judy Davis and a few others), but Debra Winger ended up with the part and I guess the [now largely forgotten] eventual film wasn't as revelatory as perhaps the role seemed on paper.

[quote]Abel Ferrara and Alan Parker, strong visionaries who were able to coax good performances from her.

Abel went on to say directing her was the hardest experience of his career, and he would have to film her under the guise of it being a rehearsal. I don't know how Alan Parker fared.