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Zoë Kravitz was rejected from a The Dark Knight Rises audition because of her skin colour

7 March 2022, 17:20

Zoë Kravitz says she drank milk like a cat to prepare for The Batman

By Sam Prance

"Being a woman of colour and being an actor and being told at that time that I wasn’t able to read because of the colour of my skin, and the word urban being thrown around like that, that was what was really hard about that moment."

Zoë Kravitz has opened up about not being allowed to try out for The Dark Knight Rises "because they weren’t going urban".

Following years of anticipation, DC's The Batman is finally out in cinemas and it's opened to rave reviews. Critics and fans of the beloved superhero can't get enough of Robert Pattinson's gritty take on Bruce Wayne. Not to mention, people are living for Zoë Kravitz's portrayal of Selina Kyle a.k.a. Catwoman. The movie currently has a rating of 85% on Rotten Tomatoes.

It's impossible to imagine The Batman without Zoë playing Catwoman in it. However, Zoë has just confirmed that she tried to audition for a previous Batman movie and they wouldn't even consider her for an audition because she wasn't white.

Zoë Kravitz was rejected from a The Dark Knight Rises audition because of her skin colour. Picture: REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs/Alamy Stock Photo, Warner Bros. Pictures

In 2015, Zoë Kravitz revealed to Nylon that she was blocked from auditioning for "a small role" for the 2012 Batman film The Dark Knight Rises because she was too "urban" for the part. Discussing the incident with The Observer now, Zoë said: "I don’t know if it came directly from Chris Nolan. I think it was probably a casting director of some kind."

Zoë continued: "Being a woman of colour and being an actor and being told at that time that I wasn’t able to read because of the colour of my skin, and the word urban being thrown around like that, that was what was really hard about that moment." Zöe is Black and Jewish.

It's unclear what role Zoë auditioned for but fans have speculated that it was Catwoman's friend Jen, who was played by Juno Temple in the movie. Meanwhile, Catwoman was portrayed by Anne Hathaway.

Zoë Kravitz playing Catwoman / Selina Kyle in The Batman. Picture: Warner Bros. Pictures/PictureLux / The Hollywood Archive / Alamy Stock Photo

Of course, Zöe has had the last laugh being cast as Catwoman in The Batman but it goes without saying that racist casting processes that exclude Black people from auditioning parts for no reason are wrong.