ZOE KRAVITZ

is selina kyle/catwoman

Did you look to make this version of Catwoman different to others?

I think a lot of that work was done for us already, because the story is so good. The script was so good and so different, and Matt’s vision was so different. When you start working from a place where you’re thinking, “Okay, I have to do something differently, because I want to be different”, that feels a little bit dangerous creatively. It was really about, for me, just trusting the story that Matt’s written, and doing my best to almost forget about the idea of Catwoman and what she means culturally and really just focus on telling the story. I think naturally it does feel very different.

What lessons do you feel you’ve learned on movies that you found useful on this one?

It’s kind of about forgetting that you’re on a big movie set, because when you treat it like a big movie and it becomes impersonal, it’s harder to create something that has depth and heart. The thing about this movie that was really interesting, I thought, was that even though it was this huge, big-budget studio film, oftentimes on set to me it felt like we’re making an independent film. We would all put our heads together and talk about how we can fix a problem.

Everyone was just running around doing what they could to help, everyone cared so much and went above and beyond their job. So there was something that actually felt like everyone’s here to make something important that we care about. It’s not like the idea of making sausage, which is sometimes what a big movie can feel like. This felt like a bunch of kids – we all grew up with Batman. I think that’s also the power of Batman, right? Like, everyone that’s on that set can’t believe they’re on that set. So that, I think, really helped translate this into something we were all excited to do.

What do you think makes the character of Catwoman timeless?

It’s almost like Shakespeare in a way, right? There’s a reason that we keep on telling these stories over and over again. I think it’s because they’re really tapping into the complexity of what it is to be human. I really feel like these stories and these characters sit in a grey area. No one’s all good, no one’s all bad. Everyone has a really specific point of view. That will never get old. And the fact that these stories aren’t really about superpowers, they’re about what it is to be a human being and the struggles within that. That’s why I go to the movies.

Did you collaborate with the costume designers in any way?

Jacqueline [Durran] was amazing, and amazingly collaborative. The whole nature of this, the whole of the set was really incredible in terms of wanting everyone to have input on their characters. When we were talking about the catsuit, it was really about trying to keep it grounded and understanding – because we have these versions of women riding in heels, and I don’t know why anyone would ever do that. If you really want to do something successfully, don’t put heels on.

So we were trying to really ground the costume. She rides a motorcycle, so having that be the basis of why this suit exists in the first place. For us, it was really about finding her personality and all of that, but also really finding the reason for why this suit exists.

How do you put your own stamp on an iconic character?

We were lucky to have a very strong, clear, fully conceived script to work with. I really think that the foundation is in the words that are coming from this script. Although there were previous iterations – and I think there is a lot of energy that comes from the past, and from the archetype, and I love that and you sort of want to be open to that – there’s something bigger at work here.

There’s a reason why Batman, and why Gotham, has resonated for so long and why it can keep being reinterpreted. But it really starts with something that’s not general. And luckily, this script was highly specific. The point of view was really clear and from there, we hopefully build our versions of these characters. So it’s not coming from some familiarised idea of what the Riddler might be. It’s coming from the character on the page and investigating who he is and why he’s there.

Matt Reeves has talked about drawing inspiration from the Zodiac Killer for the Riddler. How do you approach that aspect of this character?

That was a reference point Matt gave me, and I read quite a bit about serial killers in general, which wasn’t light reading. I found that, actually, it was a little challenging to go to the coffee shop and read. I needed more friendly surroundings to read that stuff. But I actually found, then, going to Matt’s script, that that reference only took me so far. On behalf of the character, I felt like his sense of purpose and intention was much greater and deeper. So I was really interested in building why that person is, who they are. What’s the nature and nurture elements of this? And how did he get to this place? That was really a big part of the development of the character for me and, luckily, what Matt wanted out of this was something that was not only epic in scope and lived up to Gotham and the comics and the archetype, but something that was really grounded and deeply personal and deeply emotional.

In the Batman world at large, there is a really strong undercurrent of that, that I think we really tried to swim in, which is that Batman is born of trauma. And I think so are some of the, quote, “villains”.

This Batman is very much grounded in reality, and Gotham is a character itself. Can you describe this Gotham?

Again, Matt’s script was really fully conceived right from the get go, including the graffiti on the walls of Gotham. There’s an energy. I would say that it’s a broken city. There’s a reason that a man would have to dress as a bat, aside from his own personal histories and traumas.

Certainly from my point of view, it’s a city that is victimised, and I don’t know that there are many ways out or up for a lot of people in this Gotham. It’s got a strong current of what this Gotham society is and how it’s run. It’s been a really rich part of the comic book history, the corruption in Gotham.

One of the moments, the scenes that has really resonated in the trailers, that I think has a real energy in this film, is when Rob says “I’m vengeance”. There’s something that I think’s really powerful there.

What backstory did you take for your character?

For me, just from the first few conversations I had with Matt over the phone, he really seemed to think that the most helpful thing for me to do would be to think about this guy’s family… really, in a detailed way, describe that life because of his work life we see in the film. But the conflict that he’s going through relies on that family life being something that gives him comfort and joy, just like a lot of people’s families do.

Tell us a little bit about your history with Batman.

I wasn’t the kid who was super into the comics on any level, but that’s probably bad. I consumed them like every other child did at the time, and I watched some Batman on TV.

Film noir is being discussed a lot – is that how the film was pitched?

[Matt was] talking about that all the time. His references for the movie were all so interesting. He did mention Taxi Driver, actually, which is not the first thing I thought he would mention, but he was talking about a lot of films that I really respected that are really character-driven. With a lot of the references, I was like, “Oh, you’re going to be interested in people? And what makes people do things?” That’s really when you think of film noir. It’s really an investigation of the dark side of ourselves.

You could tell by casting, also, what he was after. When you started hearing about who else was in the film… All of them, incidentally, live within a couple of blocks of each other. I think there were five of us in the film that could all walk to each other’s homes. He actually mentioned Nirvana, the group, because how do you communicate tone to actors? You’re creating a world that exists in a parallel universe to ours that needs to have authenticity, like ours has – how do you describe that world? Well, one step at a time. You see the cast, you see the script, you walk on set, and you’re like, “Oh my God, it’s both grand in a large way, and in every little detail, it’s totally fleshed out”. So, where you’re supposed to be.

What stood out that makes this version of Batman different?

My experience with Batman in the past which I’ve enjoyed – my wife [Maggie Gyllenhaal] was in a Batman movie [The Dark Knight] – has been he was more sure of himself and impenetrable, and fully formed. There’s something nice about watching somebody try to stumble through it and try to figure out what their role is in everything.

What was your first day on set like?

Oh, my first day on set went on for about six days. I had a very physically arduous thing to do for many days in a row. A lot of people do arduous things for work, so who am I to complain?

But it definitely felt, for a little old actor, physically demanding. I was cold. We were in these things where they had built Zeppelins and they were these enormous hangars that just had sheet metal and it was very, very cold.

But also, the circumstances of the scene were, like, an 11 out of 10. So it just felt like my first day was to floor it.