The Dark Knight Rises: Marion Cotillard Admits She “Screwed Up” Death Scene

2012’s The Dark Knight Rises was the highly-anticipated sequel to Christopher Nolan’s 2008 film, The Dark Knight, which many still regard as not only one of the best comic book movies ever but one of the greatest films of all time. While Rises didn’t quite live up to its predecessor, it was still a massive hit and mostly enjoyed by fans. However, one ridiculed element of the film is the death scene of Miranda Tate (revealed to be Talia al Ghul, the daughter of Batman Begins villain Ra’s al Ghul). Fans have criticized the awkward blocking of the scene wherein Talia gives a vengeful speech as she slowly dies with her body in a pretty goofy position.

However, audiences are not the only ones who recognized how unintentionally funny the moment was, as its actress Marion Cotillard recently revealed that she’s not exactly pleased with the way it turned out. She said in an interview with Les Rencontres du Papotin (via Variety), “I didn’t nail that scene. I didn’t find the right position. I didn’t find the right way… I was stressed. Sometimes it happens that you screw something up. So that, I screwed up.”

To her credit, Cotillard is a terrific actress and has won numerous awards throughout her impressive career, including an Oscar, a BAFTA, two César Awards, and a Golden Globe. And even before The Dark Knight Rises, she did some fine work in Nolan’s 2010 sci-fi action thriller, Inception.

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If anything, the person who should receive the most blame for Talia’s silly death scene is probably Nolan. He’s an extremely talented screenwriter and director, but he should’ve blocked that scene a little better. Other than the positioning of Cotillard and the framing, it’s still a pretty hard-hitting scene; not only was her character’s reveal an impactful shocker, but the fact that her death wouldn’t stop her father’s plan from coming to pass only raised the stakes of the third act climax.

But having her deliver her lines in such a squished posture distracted from the revelation. Still, this is a rare creative misstep from Nolan, so maybe we should ease up on him for that scene, at least a little bit.

This wasn’t the first time Cotillard addressed her character’s infamous death scene; she had previously discussed it in a 2016 interview with Allociné (via Variety), stating, “Sometimes there are failures, and when you see this on screen, you’re thinking: ‘Why? Why did they keep that take?’ But either you blame everyone or nobody. But I thought people overreacted because it was tough to be identified just with this scene. When I’m doing the best I can to find the authenticity in every character that I’m playing, it’s tough to be known just for this scene.”

So what do you think of Talia al Ghul’s death scene in The Dark Knight Rises? Was it really that corny or are fans overreacting to it? Sound off in the comments below!