Sean Young Still Wants To Play Catwoman

In 1988, when Sean Young (Blade Runner) was considered an A-list actress, she was cast as Bruce […]

September 6, 2017, 5:17am

In 1988, when Sean Young (Blade Runner) was considered an A-list actress, she was cast as Bruce Wayne’s (Michael Keaton) love interest Vicki Vale in Tim Burton’s Batman (1989). But before filming commenced, Young fell off a horse and broke her arm. She was quickly replaced by Kim Basinger (L.A. Confidential).

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Was that the fair thing to do? “If [producer] Jon Peters had wanted me I think they could have shot around it,” Young told The Hollywood Reporter in a recent interview. “I think he just had a hard-on for Kim Basinger. He had a good excuse to let me go and hire her. It hurt me, but that’s show business.”

Batman became a box office hit and Warner Bros. quickly green-lit a sequel. Once it was known that Catwoman would appear in Batman Returns (1992), Young publicly campaigned for the role. She went as far as appearing in a Catwoman costume on The Joan Rivers Show and even wore the outfit when she dropped by the WB lot uninvited and demanded Burton give her an audition.

What was Burton’s reaction to Young’s unexpected visit? “He wasn’t there,” she said. “I guess he was hiding in the bathroom.”

Catwoman went to Annette Bening (American Beauty), but she had to drop out because she became pregnant. The role eventually went to Michelle Pfeiffer (Scarface).

Surprisingly, Young still thinks she has what it takes to be Catwoman. “Who knows? If these Warner Bros. executives now were really good businessmen, they’d let me play Catwoman today, and I’d make a smash amount of money,” the 56-year-old actress explained. “But they’re too stupid. You can lead people to water, but you can’t make them great artists. Nobody wants to take that risk, it’s too scary. If they’re wrong, it can cost them their job. If there were really good businessmen over there, it’d be an obvious no brainer, but I’m not running the studio.”