Tim Burton’s Batman films welcomed a new addition to his cast of characters with Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman. And although Pfeiffer’s Catsuit became iconic in Batman Returns, it was the one thing about the role Pfeiffer couldn’t stand.
Michelle Pfeiffer was devastated when she learned that someone else was cast as Catwoman in ‘Batman Returns’
Pfeiffer became synonymous with Catwoman for a while after portraying the character in Burton’s 1992 Batman Returns. But she wasn’t the first choice for Selina Kyle. Back then, that honor went to actor Annette Bening. After seeing how great Burton’s Batman Returns script was, Pfeiffer couldn’t have been more dissatisfied about the initial casting news.
“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,” she once said in an interview with Empire (via Hypable).
Bening would later have to drop out of the role due to personal reasons, and the role circled back over to Pfeiffer.
“When she 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,” Pfeiffer said.
Michelle Pfeiffer hated wearing her Catwoman suit in ‘Batman Returns’
The actor’s Catwoman suit might be as memorable as Pfeiffer’s acting in the role. But performing inside the suit took a lot of adjusting to on her part. Designing the suit in a way that completely fit Pfeiffer required a lot of trial and error.
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“It was the most uncomfortable costume I’ve ever been in. They had to powder me down, help me inside and then vacuum-pack the suit,” Pfeiffer told The Hollywood Reporter in a 2017 interview. “They’d paint it with a silicon-based finish to give it its trademark shine. I had those claws, and I was always catching them in things. The face mask was smashing my face and choking me…we had a lot of bugs to work out.”
Pfeiffer would eventually be able to function in the suit enough to focus on her acting. But looking back on it, she still didn’t have too many fond memories of wearing the outfit. However, a part of her did wish she kept her Catwoman suit around.
“I regret that more than anything. I hated wearing that catsuit so much. By the end, we had a bonfire, and I was just so happy. There were a zillion of them, because they’d break, and you’d have to throw one on. I never wanted to see it again, and of course, now, I wish I had one. But I kept my whip,” she once told Oklahoman.
How Michelle Pfeiffer would feel about reprising her role as Catwoman
Many years have passed since Burton’s Batman movies, but that might not mean it was the last audience’s have seen of his characters. Michael Keaton, for instance, will be reprising his role as Batman in the upcoming The Flash.
Pfeiffer has also recently returned to the superhero world in Marvel’s Ant-Man movies. And although the chances may be slim, Pfeiffer wouldn’t be completely against reprising her role as Catwoman in another movie.
“It would depend on the context but, yeah, I’d consider it,” she said in another interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
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