On October 13 Deadline.com broke the story that Christopher Nolan drafted
Inception star Tom Hardy to join the Bat-team, likely to play a villain. Now
Deadline drops another pearl into the pot with the story that Christopher Nolan is narrowing his list of actresses to play
two female lead roles in
The Dark Knight Rises, his third installment in the Batfilm 'verse. Nolan always plays close to the chest, so he's keeping mum on the roles, but one role is to be a l<3ve interest for Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne, and the other (presumably) is a villain. The list includes: Rachel Weisz, Naomi Watts, Keira Knightley, Blake Lively, Natalie Portman, and Anne Hathaway. In typical fashion, I have to attack my thoughts on these prospects one at a time in my own list.
Rachel Weisz - This brunette British beauty is probably most well known for her role as the female protagonist, Evy, in the first two installments of the
The Mummy films opposite Brendan Fraiser, but Weisz (pronounced "Vice") actually has quite the range of experience; she starred in Darren Aronofsky's period-jumping existential drama
The Fountain, portrayed a manipulative art student in
The Shape of Things, and, lest we forget, took home a little Oscar for her supporting role in
The Constant Gardner opposite Ralph Fiennes. She has the acting (and action) chops and is gorgeous in a fashion that would work well in the film noir style Nolan has been implementing in the films. She gets my approval.
Naomi Watts - She's definitely been in some great films with some top notch actors and directors; she was the starlet Ann Darrow in Peter Jackson's
King Kong, another starlet in David Lynch's psychodrama
Mulholland Dr., alongside Clive Owen in
The International and opposite Viggo Mortenson's Russian mobster in
Eastern Promises. She's got quite a resume and is not a bad actress. And yet, every time I hear her name, I mentally shrug and go 'meh'. She's just barely outside the realm of my "What's-Her-Blonde?" list of Hollywood actresses - typically "beautiful" blonde actresses that, while I may recognize their names, have never given a performance actually worthy of my memory space and by all appearances pretty interchangeable. She's a little bit prettier than those girls though and has done some mentionable work. She always strikes me as very fragile and her eyebrows always seem to give her a disturbed/annoyed countenance - neither are qualities that lend themselves to an attractive love interest or a sexy but psycho villain. She's kind of a poor-man's Nicole Kidman (of whom I'm no great fan either). All of this makes me question what role she could possibly do well in this film. I won't be disappointed if she makes the film, but I won't look forward to is for her sake either.
Keira Knightley - Christ on a cracker you've gotta be kidding me! Please cinema Gods, NO! Sure she has action cred under her belt, but that's about it. Here are my arguments against this one: 1) She has the body of a boy! We all remember the to-do over the
King Arthur movie poster where they had to add a bump to her front to make it look like she actually had cleavage. Sure, there's a bit there, but nothing that I want to see getting tapped by BW or in a catsuit that's for sure. 2) To my knowledge, she cannot perform an American dialect. If she can, I doubt it's all that good. Finally 3) While she has the smokey eyes for a Cat Woman character, if I have to watch her all too usual this-is-me-acting-dramatic/angry jaw clench, I may start dry-heaving in the theater.
Blake Lively - This blonde bombshell is the relative newb on the list. Most notably she's starred in the
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movies (I saw the first one; don't judge!), is a lead on tele show
Gossip Girl (which I have never seen), and was recently seen opposite Jeremy Renner and Ben Affleck in
The Town (which I still want to see). She's also already been tapped for another superhero movie, next year's
Green Lantern opposite Ryan Reynolds (grrrowl). Of the little I've seen of her work, she doesn't suck. And she's pretty hot, great smile, has a bod and great hair... so yeah, she gets my OK. But with her already slated for
Green Lantern, she may not be set to film another comic movie.
Natalie Portman - Portman has always been touch and go in my book. I definitely did NOT like her performance in the new
Star Wars trilogy - but that begs whether it was her or the poor script - and
The Other Boleyn Girl was like a really well costumed soap opera . I thought she did well, though not astonishingly, in
Where the Heart Is (total chic flick),
The Professional, and
Closer. And, of course, I loved
V for Vendetta (which shows she's not afraid to do some drastic stuff for her craft). She's also getting early buzz for her turn as an obsessive ballerina in Darren Aronofsky's upcoming
Black Swan. So acting wise, she could pull it off. Here's my catch, she has a very distinct look and I'm not sure I can picture her in the world Nolan has already set. But who knows, she could blow us all away. Tentative approval.
Anne Hathaway - OK, in case you didn't know (and you should by now) I have a massive girl-crush on Ms Hathaway. First of all, she is a fantastic actress; sure she started out in Disney's The Princess Diaries, but she has since gone on to build a resume of good variety;
Nicholas Nickelby,
Havoc,
Brokeback Mountain,
The Devil Wears Prada,
Becoming Jane,
Bride Wars and
Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. All are excellent films in their own right and cast her alongside many first-class actors. She even got an Oscar nom for her portrayl of a young woman released from rehab for her sister's wedding in
Rachel Getting Married. She can be seen now opposite her Brokeback costar Jake Gylenhaal in the romantic dramedy
Love and Other Drugs. The girl's got chops and she's smokin' hot to boot. Don't believe me? Check out her stipper pole dance in
Bride Wars or just about any scene in
Devil Wears Prada. And guys, if you just want to see her tits (and she has a great rack) check out
Brokeback Mountain (just fast forward if you're too much of a pansy to watch man love). With her creamy complexion, big brown eyes and awesome talent, she'd be great in any Nolan film, but especially this one. Yes, Hathaway definitely gets my gold star of approval.
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| Anne in Havoc |
California sea cucumber
