Madonna Regrets Turning Down Catwoman Role In Batman Returns

Though Madonna is best known for her musical career, she does have some film credits to her name and in a new interview confirmed that there some very high profile movies she turned down, and later regretted. While appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Madonna was asked a series of rumors about herself to confirm or deny with the host asking if it was true that she turned down the role of Catwoman in Batman Returns and the lead in Showgirls, and she says it's true, all of it. "I saw them both, and I regret that I turned down Catwoman. That was pretty fierce," the entertainer said. "'Showgirls'? No."

As we know, Michelle Pfeiffer took the part of Catwoman for the highly anticipated sequel, and ultimately owned the role in such a way that her performance and look remain an iconic chapter of the character's history. The search for an actress to play Catwoman in the film reportedly targeted multiple women before Pfeiffer eventually took the part. In addition to Madonna it's been reported that Susan Sarandon, Meryl Streep, Demi Moore, Nicole Kidman, Jodie Foster, Geena Davis, Sigourney Weaver, Cher, Ellen Barkin, and Jennifer Jason Leigh had been approached at the time.

Madonna did have a chance to appear in a comic-inspired role though, playing "Breathless Mahoney" in the Dick Tracy movie. A fine part, but now Michelle Pfeiffer Catwoman.

Pfeiffer's Catwoman has become so iconic and integral to the DNA of the DC Comics character that versions of the suit are routinely used in the mainline comics, available in Batman video games as an alternate skin, and the character even brought back for a new Batman '89 comic book. The costume was just part of the reason this version of the anti-hero became so popular but the passion that Pfeiffer had for the part could also be felt by audiences.

"As a young girl, I was completely obsessed with Catwoman," Pfeiffer previously revealed to The Hollywood Reporter in a 2017 interview. "When I heard that [Batman Returns director] Tim [Burton] was making the film and Catwoman had already been cast, I was devastated. At the time, it was Annette Bening. Then she became pregnant. The rest is history. I remember telling Tim halfway through the script that I'd do the film, that's how excited I was."

Pfeiffer previously revealed back in 2019 that not only does she still have her whip from Batman Returns, and even still knows how to use it.