The Batman Star Zoe Kravitz Details Intense Process for Catwoman Role

Zoe Kravitz might be incredibly busy, dividing time between Hulu's High Fidelity, HBO's Pretty Little Lies, and Matt Reeves's The Batman -- but that doesn't mean she didn't have to carve out a couple of months to get in fighting shape for her role as Selina Kyle/Catwoman. During an interview on iHeartRadio's Questlove Supreme podcast, Kravitz called both her physical preparation, and the shoot itself, "intense" and detailed a process of showing up in London months in advance of filming in order to prepare for superhero combat. The actress also praised the work of The Batman star Robert Pattinson, in a wide-ranging interview.

In the conversation, she also talked about following in the footsteps of actresses like Eartha Kitt, Michele Pfeiffer, and Halle Berry. She spoke mostly in generalities, avoiding the fanboy questions that comic book movie actors are often peppered with largely because Questlove simply doesn't watch many comic book movies and didn't even know, until she told him, that Pattinson was the Dark Knight.

"It's pretty intense," Kravitz said. "We just started shooting two weeks ago, but before that I was in London for two months, just getting in shape, training, learning fights."

She added that the shoot itself is intense, and that it's going to be a long one, with the film expected to wrap production this summer in advance of its 2021 release.

This isn't the first time Kravitz has discussed the workout regimen; she said back in January that she came home every day limping from her training. By Valentine's Day, though, word had come down that Kravtiz had already tried on the Catwoman costume.

"Definitely, I was excited when I got the role, and usually when you get a job the people who are excited about it are you, your parents, your agent, your friends and that's kind of it," Kravitz explained. "But when the press release came, I got more text messages and calls than I've gotten on my birthday, on my wedding day. All of a sudden, the reality began to sink in about what this means not only to me, but to everybody else culturally — and the fans of this universe are so dedicated and opinionated."

She added, "It was a little scary, but also whenever I get nervous about something, I feel it pushes me to a better place anyway, so I welcome the nerves. If you start focusing too much on what people are going to think you're doing yourself a disservice, it's almost like you're putting your energy in the wrong place. Of course, I want to honor the fans and hope they like what I do with the role, but in order to do what I think I need to do with Catwoman I have to go internal and forget about the rest of the world."

The cast of The Batman will also include Westworld star Jeffrey Wright as Jim Gordon, There Will Be Blood's Paul Dano as Edward Nygma/The Riddler, The Lobster's Colin Farrell as Oswalt Cobblepott/The Penguin, Star Wars: The Last Jedi's Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, and Barton Fink's John Turturro as Carmine Falcone. Newcomer Jayme Lawson has been cast in a currently-unknown role.

The Batman stalks into theaters on June 25, 2021.