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Catwoman
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Starring: Halle Berry, Benjamin Bratt, Sharon Stone, Lambert Wilson, Ellen Pompeo
Directed by: Jean-Christophe 'Pitof' Comar
Screenplay by: John Brancato, Mike Ferris
Release Date: July 23, 2004
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for action violence and some sensuality.
Box Office: $40,199,000 (US total)
Studio: Warner Bros.
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CATWOMAN PRODUCTION NOTESPatience Philips (HALLE BERRY) is a woman who just won’t stand up for herself – and the world is more than willing to step all over her in return. A meek people-pleaser, she squanders her considerable artistic talent in a thankless job as a graphics designer for behemoth cosmetics company Hedare Beauty, a ‘youth and beauty at all costs’ conglomerate run by the tyrannical George Hedare (LAMBERT WILSON) and his icy supermodel wife, Laurel (SHARON STONE).
In a fateful turn of events, Patience’s quiet life is forever changed when she overhears a conversation revealing that Hedare’s too-good-to-be-true new anti-aging product is…too good to be true. Caught in the wrong place at the worst possible time, Patience is murdered to keep Hedare’s secret safe.But all is not lost.
Resurrected by mysterious forces, she awakens…and she doesn’t come back alone. Suddenly gifted with strength, agility and ultra-keen senses, she is no longer just Patience – she is also Catwoman, a seductive creature delicately balancing on the dangerously thin line between good and bad.
Her adventures begin as she goes on the prowl to settle a few scores and have herself some long overdue fun. But Catwoman’s exploits quickly complicate Patience’s burgeoning relationship with Tom Lone (BENJAMIN BRATT), a handsome cop dedicated to saving the good guys from the bad guys – and the belief that there’s no gray area between the two. The detective is falling for Patience, but he can’t shake his fascination with the feline fatale who appears to be responsible for a string of crimes being committed throughout the city.
As her wild side breaks loose, the line between Patience and her untamed alter ego begins to blur – and neither of them feel like playing by anyone else’s rules anymore.
Sometimes you have to die to get a life.
THE CAT’S MEOW
Sleek, mysterious, dangerous and sexy, Catwoman has never had any trouble captivating fans…or making enemies. A sometime defender of the underdog, she isn’t above breaking the law to achieve her own ends. Free to walk in both the dark and the light, she is superhero and arch-villain all rolled into one, and in Warner Bros. Pictures’ Catwoman, she finally has a chance to flex her claws on the big screen in her first starring role.
“Catwoman epitomizes fantasy,” says actress Halle Berry, who plays the feral antihero. “She’s who every woman wants to be and every man would like to be with. In many ways cats embody the true psyche of women – cats are very elusive, and you have to work to gain their trust and their respect. It’s not something that’s given very freely. I’ve heard it said that dogs have masters, but cats have servants. And it’s true!”
Since she made her comic book debut as ‘The Cat’ in DC Comics’ Batman #1 in 1940, the character of Catwoman has undergone many incarnations on her journey to becoming the slinky archetype she is today. “Because of her mythological nature, there is an inherent freedom for interpretation with this character,” comments producer Ed McDonnell. “Our film remains true to the essence of Catwoman while bringing her into a contemporary time.”Catwoman puts a new twist on the legend, introducing the character of Patience Philips, a woman who is in desperate need of some power – not to mention a little bit of fun. She finds both when she is mysteriously transformed into the dangerous and decadent Catwoman. “I wanted to tell a true origin story of this character,” explains producer Denise Di Novi, “to show how one woman became Catwoman and what it means to connect to that feline power.”
“This is a Catwoman for the 21st century,” says Berry. “She’s very modern and very reflective of our collective culture as we know it today. Our Catwoman is theoretically one of many who have gone before her and who will come after her – Patience and I are just the next lucky girls to have been chosen.”
In the wake of her inexplicable metamorphosis, Patience is shocked to find herself suddenly exhibiting a host of very unexpected new personality traits. Where Patience was meek and modest, Catwoman is bold and flirtatious; while Patience was painfully unsure of herself, Catwoman exudes confidence and strength. Casting a character who undergoes such a rapid and extreme evolution presented a challenge to the filmmakers, who turned to the only actress they believed could handle the rigors of the role: Academy Award winner Halle Berry.
“What’s so unique about Halle is that not only is she sympathetic and likeable, she’s also sexy and strong,” explains Di Novi. “She was able to seamlessly and convincingly play what are essentially three roles: Patience before her transformation, who is very vulnerable and timid; Patience in transition, when she is struggling with Catwoman’s emergence; and finally after she becomes a full-blown Catwoman.”
According to Berry, at the time that Di Novi approached her for the role, Catwoman was just what the doctor ordered. “What I’ve found is that projects always come my way that serve me best in real life,” muses the actress. “I needed to be Catwoman. I needed to take control of my life, and putting on that suit made it a whole lot easier. I felt empowered and strong and sexy – connected with myself as a woman.”
Unlike Patience, Catwoman not only understands her newfound dominance and sensuality – she relishes it. “I wouldn’t exactly call her a role model,” cautions Berry with a laugh, “because she does do some naughty things. She’s nice and naughty and naughty and nice. I would, however, say that what Patience learns holds a lot of value for any woman who is discovering her own needs and desires.”The actress is also appreciative of the somewhat less introspective aspects of the film. “This is a popcorn-eatin,’ ass-whoopin’ summer action adventure,” she enthuses. “There’s humor, a sweet love story and a lot of catfights. Did I mention she’s a little naughty?”
The lucky recipient of Patience’s niceties and Catwoman’s naughtiness is police detective Tom Lone, played by Emmy-nominated actor Benjamin Bratt. “Ben radiates strength and goodness and manliness,” compliments Di Novi. “He’s an incredibly romantic lead, and he and Halle have amazing chemistry in the movie.”
Lone becomes intrigued by Patience after a chance meeting, but their promising relationship is quickly complicated when Catwoman emerges – particularly when she becomes the elusive main suspect in a string of crimes the detective is investigating. Unbeknownst to him, Lone is developing two distinct relationships with different sides of the same person. Their cat-and-mouse game heats up as Lone begins to suspect that Patience is somehow linked to the enigmatic Catwoman.
“Lone is a straight shooter,” says Bratt. “He’s a detective who is good at his job, and who believes in right and wrong, black and white – there’s not a lot of gray area in the world for him. So it presents an interesting problem when he develops feelings for someone who may or may not be involved in some shady dealings.”
“She creates a quandary for him,” adds Berry, “because she is fighting for a noble cause, but she’s doing it outside the law. Is she a red-blooded woman and a girl who wants to have fun? Absolutely. Is she perfect? Absolutely not. But her intentions are good, and Lone is torn as to what he should do about it.”
Patience’s burgeoning new persona complicates more than her love life – it also gets her fired from her job at cosmetics conglomerate Hedare Beauty; her boss, George Hedare, doesn’t appreciate his formerly obedient employee’s sudden penchant for rebellion. Lambert Wilson and Sharon Stone portray George and Laurel Hedare, the megalomaniacal and combative husband and wife team at the helm of the high-profile company.
“Hedare represents those cosmetics companies in the world that prey upon women’s insecurities,” says Di Novi. “The message is that you have to look younger and you have to be perfect, and we play with a lot of that in our movie. Catwoman finds out that this company is planning something evil, and decides that she has to put a stop to it – by any means necessary.”
George’s wife, supermodel Laurel Hedare, is facing problems of her own. While she has been the iconic face of the company for many years, her husband has recently decided that she is getting too old to represent a business that hinges on making women believe that they need to look younger to be attractive. He has demanded that Laurel step down to make way for her 22- year-old replacement – in more ways than one. But Laurel isn’t one to go quietly, and she knows a thing or two about revenge.
For the role of glamorous beauty queen Laurel Hedare, the filmmakers turned to Academy Award-nominated actress Sharon Stone, herself a former model. “Sharon is so strong and has such a powerful persona,” says Di Novi. “She’s perfect in the role of a woman who represents the ideal beauty and also wields a lot of power in a corporate environment.”
“I enjoyed playing this part because I get ‘the joke’ about Laurel,” says Stone of her obsessively vain character. “I will not go around saying I’m 35, because I just don’t believe in that. But Laurel does bow to the pressure from society to stay young at all costs, to be perfect – ‘to be more’ as the Hedare slogan says. I really like what this movie has to say about finding out who you are and then giving yourself the power to just be yourself. No more, no less, just yourself.”When Patience is reborn as Catwoman, she is understandably confused and frightened by her astonishing physical prowess, not to mention her sudden interest in small rodents. Her only clue as to what may be going on is the enigmatic presence of the beautiful cat who keeps materializing at pivotal moments in Patience’s life. The cat’s tag leads her to the doorstep of Ophelia Powers, a peculiar, reclusive ‘cat lady’ who is destined to become Patience’s unlikely mentor and guide.
Ophelia is played by Frances Conroy, winner of a Golden Globe and two Emmy nominations for her role as Ruth Fisher on the popular HBO drama Six Feet Under. “At first, Ophelia just seems like a woman who is somewhat charming and has a great number of cats,” says Conroy. “Then you realize that she is there for a purpose, to help Patience blossom from a young woman whose life has been snatched away to a young woman whose life is given back. She explains to Patience that she actually died and was brought back, and that this same phenomenon has happened to women throughout history.”
“Just imagine!” says Berry. “That’s a pretty heavy, trippy proposition to have laid on you, but that’s where Patience first starts to discover that as bizarre as this situation is, it’s happening to her, and she begins to embrace it.”
“I’m so fortunate that we have such an amazing group of talented actors in our film,” says Di Novi. “Their performances were instrumental in getting this story told in the way I had always envisioned it.”
The filmmakers’ choice of director was also key in crafting the film that Di Novi wanted to make. To this end, they turned to innovative French director Pitof. “I wanted Catwoman to have a completely original style, and Pitof is a brilliant visualist,” says Di Novi. “He delivered a movie that is incredibly dynamic and entertaining.”
Catwoman marks Pitof’s American film directorial debut. He began his career as an assistant director and editor of films and commercials, eventually becoming a pioneer of digital imaging in France. Pitof’s French directorial debut was the feature Vidocq, a gripping film that featured groundbreaking visual effects.
“We were looking to make a very unique picture,” says McDonnell, “and when we saw Vidocq, we knew immediately that Pitof was the guy. He’s incredibly stylish without being overwhelming and his use of lenses and cameras is amazing. I think audiences are really going to be entertained by his approach to storytelling.”
“I feel so privileged to have been entrusted with such a compelling project,” says Pitof. “When you look at the history of Catwoman and the women who have portrayed her over the years, there is a common spirit between them. It is this spirit of confidence and individuality that made Catwoman so appealing to me and that has captivated audiences for decades.”
KITTEN WITH A WHIPPrincipal photography on Catwoman began in late September of 2003, but leading lady Halle Berry had begun preparing for the physically demanding role long before the cameras started rolling. “I knew this was going to be a huge undertaking for me,” says Berry, “and I actually started intensive fitness training with Harley Pasternak in June of 2003. I’ve always worked out and been in shape, but I needed to take it to a whole new level to meet the physical challenges of this character and create the kind of body that Catwoman ought to have.”
Berry’s grueling training schedule did not let up once filming began – the actress pushed herself right through the course of principal photography. “My fitness and nutrition regime was constant throughout pre-production and production,” says Berry, “but there were many other skills that I had to work on for the film, like whip training, fight training and movement.”
In the course of her exploits, Catwoman tests the theory that cats have nine lives by getting herself involved in some truly spectacular fights. “Halle did an unbelievable amount of fight work and stunts for this role,” praises Di Novi. “From the beginning she wanted to do as much of it herself as she could.”
Stunt coordinators Steve Davison and Jacob Rupp and fight coordinator Michael Gunther were responsible for teaching Berry choreography for the elaborate fight sequences and making sure she always landed on her feet. Davison calls the actress “one of the fastest learners” with whom he has ever worked. “Halle is just amazing, a total pro,” he says. “Her level of concentration, focus and determination is unlike any I’ve ever seen.”
Anne Fletcher, the film’s choreographer and physicality designer, oversaw Berry’s training in Capoeira (pronounced Cã-po-we-rã), a Brazilian martial art that combines traditional martial arts with dance and gymnastic movements. “It’s one of the most difficult disciplines to learn, but is one of the most beautiful holistic art forms in the world,” says Fletcher.
While Capoeira’s distinctive low-to-the-ground stances and high-in-the-air kicks, jumps and flips might come easy to a Catwoman, they were a challenge for Berry to take on. “Capoeira is probably the hardest thing on the planet to learn to do,” says the actress. “And I had to learn how to do everything in high heels!”
Berry was also charged with learning to properly wield a bullwhip, as the weapon is an inherent part of Catwoman’s lore. It comes in handy when she needs to disarm or dispatch her foes, and also acts as an accessory to her cat suit, whether hanging from her hip or dragging behind her like a long, leather tail.
The task of teaching Berry how to crack a whip like a pro fell to whip master and coach Alex Green. “Halle was one of my best students ever,” says Green. “She was a very quick study. She listened intently and practiced constantly and her hard work paid off. The whip became a true extension of her character.”
Green goes on to explain that the “crack” sound a whip makes is due to the fact that the tail on the whip is actually breaking the sound barrier. When a whip is cracked properly it travels at 950 miles per hour – 1,400 feet per second. “The speed and force of a whip crack is something you must be very respectful of,” says Green. “Halle recognized that immediately. She was never fearful, but always respectful.”
Green began Berry’s whip training with what he considers to be the easiest crack to learn, the vertical, or ‘circus’ crack. She then worked her way up to the forward crack, the horizontal crack, the reverse horizontal and some “other surprises” that Green does not want to give away.
“Of all my training, learning to crack the whip was the most fun,” says Berry, who was gifted by Green with a custom bullwhip all her own. “The whip is probably the most elusive tool you can play with, but it’s also the most sexy and the most fun. Once you get that first good crack, there’s nothing else like it!”
On top of preparing for her fight scenes and undergoing special training to become whipproficient, Berry also took on extensive dance and movement training to perfect her feline style.
“A lot of the action that Halle does in the movie is based on actual cat movement,” comments Di Novi. “When you see cats leaping from eight stories or doing figure eights in mid-air, it’s almost supernatural, and re-creating that with a female human body was fantastic.”
CATTING AROUNDIn addition to informing her fighting technique, it was important that Berry’s entire physical performance as Catwoman be imbued with nuances of cat movement and behavior that would believably communicate her slinky feline persona. Although some CGI was used to generate movements that the human body simply can’t replicate, choreographer Anne Fletcher was brought in to develop Catwoman’s signature style and teach Berry how to think like a cat.
“Pitof wanted Catwoman’s physicality to be as real as possible,” Fletcher relates. “He said that she’s a woman first and a cat second, but he wanted to see how cat-like a human body could become.”
“Anne should put ‘cat specialist’ on her resume,” says Berry. “She really helped me define how cats behave and discover how Catwoman would move and what her thought processes might be. I also watched hours and hours of videotape, anything I could get my hands on with cats and lions and tigers.”
Additionally, Berry spent a great deal of time with animal coordinator Boone Narr, lead trainer Mark Harden, their training staff and the 43 cats used in the making of the film. This gave the actress and the cats time to get used to each other and also provided Berry with 43 cat behavior experts to study with.
According to Narr, one of the biggest hurdles in his work on Catwoman was convincing the filmmakers to use more live cats in the film rather than computer generated cats. “People tend to believe that domestic cats are un-trainable,” says Narr. “The truth is they are very trainable. Once we showed Pitof and the producers some of the things we could teach the cats to do, they agreed to let us work with them more extensively. The result is that 99% of the cats you see in the movie are real, not computer generated, which made our job very fun and very rewarding.”
Most of the cats cast in the film came from animal shelters throughout California. “Midnight,” the cat who breathes new life into Patience, is a rare Egyptian Mau. “The Maus were our little discoveries,” says Narr, “and training them raised the bar for us. In my 33 years in the business, I do not think I have ever seen a cat that is so sharp. They are strikingly beautiful and the filmmakers just fell in love with them.”
Cairo, Nile and Scarab, the three lead Egyptian Mau cats who together portray the omnipotent Midnight, hail from New Jersey and were cast after an extensive search for the relatively rare breed. Although they are all breeders’ show cats, none of the three had any prior training for film work. Each of the feline actors had their own personal specialty. Cairo was the principal character cat, and handled most of the work with Berry. Nile’s mellow personality made him perfect for quiet sitting scenes, and Scarab, who loves to run, jump and chase, became the ‘stunt cat,’ stepping in whenever action was involved.
The trainers spent close to four months preparing the three lead cats for their work. Teaching them to perform all the action called for in the script demanded a blend of ingenuity and patience. Narr recounts the preparation that went into the opening scene of the film, in which a cat chases a mouse through winding city streets. “Obviously we couldn’t let the cat chase a real mouse,” says Narr. “Instead, we taught him to chase a red laser light and filmed the cat running through the city. In post-production, a computer-generated mouse replaced the laser light.” Narr’s company, Animals for Hollywood, pioneered the use of laser light training. “We find most animals respond well to the laser light. It allows us to get shots we would never have been able to accomplish in the past.”
Besides being physically striking and very intelligent, the ancient Mau breed originated in Egypt, a fact that played right into the hands of the script; the movie’s mythology of Catwoman’s origins centers around the Egyptian goddess Bast, the sacred protector and avenger of women, often depicted with the body of a woman and the head of a cat. Patience comes to earn about Bast from the enigmatic Ophelia Powers, played by Frances Conroy.
Conroy was surrounded by cats at all times during production, and as a cat lover, the actress was impressed by the thoughtful work of Narr and company. “They’re beautifully cared for cats,” she compliments. “I’ve had cats all my life, so this was all very familiar territory to me, but it really is remarkable what they are able do, whether they are just being still – which isn’t the easiest thing in the world for a cat to do – or performing all the tasks that they were trained to accomplish.”
One of the film’s cats, named Fig Newton, lived with Berry for much of the production and served as her in-house cat movement model. At the end of filming, the actress adopted Playdough, another member of the feline cast. “Unlike Frances, I was not a cat person prior to making this film,” says Berry. “They always seemed too aloof, not needy like dogs, but I love my cat now. Seeing the way Boone and Mark and all the trainers worked with the cats was really one of the most fascinating aspects of making this movie.”
A SUIT-ABLE FITProducer Di Novi found the creation of a brand new Catwoman cat suit to be an exciting element of the production. “We all wanted to create something that was a little more urban, a little more contemporary,” says Di Novi. “It had to be tailor-made to reflect Halle’s characterization, so she had a big hand in the design of the suit.”
Together with Academy Award-winning costume designer Angus Strathie, Berry, director Pitof and the producers collaborated on the sexy suit. “I’m very proud of the costume design,” says director Pitof. “Here again, it has elements of previous cat suits but it is so unique to Halle, to her shape and beauty. It shows a lot of skin but also has a warrior-like quality to it. When she wears it she looks like somebody who’s ready for a fight.”
“What I liked best about it is how freeing it was,” recalls Berry. “You can see her spine, her ribs and the lean, sinewy musculature of the cat. The other great thing about the cat suit is that, within the story, it’s very realistic as to how Patience comes up with the outfit. It’s not like she just pulls it out of a secret closet in her apartment. She’s an artist and she uses her artistic sensibilities to put the whole disguise together.”
Costume designer Angus Strathie explains how his inspiration was grounded in the character’s own metamorphosis. “We wanted a very reality-based wardrobe to show the progression from demure, repressed Patience to the sensual awakening of a sexy warrior goddess.”
For Strathie and his team, the design, creation and construction of the cat suits was a labor-intensive and time-consuming process. “There were so many elements to take into consideration because the cat suit is such a distinctive, almost historical costume. We did want to pay some homage to the other Catwomen and I think we achieved a wonderful blend of the past and the not-too-distant future.
“One big design challenge was deciding what material we should use,” continues Strathie. “The costumes for the earlier television and film Catwomen were cutting-edge for their time – Julie Newmar and Eartha Kitt wore lurex and Michelle Pfeiffer wore latex. Now, Halle is wearing a combination of leather and a brand new silicone fabric we created just for this costume.”
Perhaps one of the most striking elements of the cat suit are its ten “diamond”-tipped claws. Almost 800 individual crystals were used to create the pavé diamond look on sterling silver settings.
Strathie’s time was also spent combing racks for designer clothes in which to wrap Sharon Stone for her role as the fanatically fashionable Laurel Hedare. “Sharon is as chic and stylish as her character is,” says Strathie, “so it was a lot of fun shopping with her to find just the right clothes for her alter-ego. Luckily, Sharon is very knowledgeable about fashion, she knows what she likes to wear and she’s incredibly creative. She loves to mix and match and brought a lot of her own fashion sense to the film, which serviced the character very effectively.”
“I wanted Laurel to give the impression that she can’t be too rich or too thin,” says Stone, “so there’s an almost surreal sort of void feel to my look. I’ve got some great Hermes bags, Jimmy Choo shoes and Fendi gave us some beautiful furs. Laurel has no conscience about anything, so she’s wild about fur. She’s just a big design slave and it was fabulous fun playing dress up with her!”
In a tribute to Catwoman’s sexy style, Fifth Avenue fashion mecca Henri Bendel, one of the country’s most distinguished fashion institutions, is currently featuring an exclusive line of Catwoman merchandise. The store carries a special selection of apparel, accessories, and other products inspired by the film. The legendary Henri Bendel windows have also been styled in a Catwoman theme.
CATWALKS AND CAT SCANSCreating a world in which Catwoman and Patience Philips could believably co-exist necessitated an artful blend of the fantastical and the practical. “We didn’t want Catwoman to look like any other action film,” stresses Di Novi. “We wanted to ground the film’s world in reality, while stylizing it just enough that it is a bit hyper-real. It also takes place in the world of cosmetics and art and advertising, so there is a level of sophistication that is really glossy and alluring.”
Much of the challenge of creating the brave new visual world of Catwoman fell on the shoulders of production designer Bill Brzeski, visual effects designer/supervisor Ed Jones and their respective teams of designers, decorators and technicians. Both men credit director Pitof and his extensive visual effects background for the freedom they felt in executing their particular design tasks.
Brzeski says that his work on the film was “great fun,” because from a design standpoint, so many of the sets are radically diverse. “We’ve got everything from Patience’s bohemian apartment, to Ophelia’s mystical shrine-like house, to the ‘design for design’s sake’ cosmetics company headquarters,” says Brzeski. Among his other personal favorites are the cosmetics factory and the massive photographic layout of Sharon Stone as Laurel Hedare that decorates the company’s headquarters, which was created during a two-day photo shoot with renowned photographer Mondino.
Once it was assembled, the immense exhibition made quite an impression on Stone. “When I first walked into the gallery in the boardroom and there were twelve-by-twelve foot photos of me everywhere, it was very intimidating and strange. And then Pitof had the idea to have the pictures grow as Laurel’s egomania gets more out of control, so by the end of the movie the pictures are 40 foot tall and there’s sixty of them! I finally had to surrender to it, but it was really just too much.”
In addition to rotoscope, motion-control, animation and motion capture technology, visual effects designer Ed Jones also utilized the process known as ‘universal capture,’ which was invented by ESC Entertainment for use in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions.
All told, over 600 visual effect shots were created for the film. “Utilizing current digital technology, we created 100% synthetic versions of Halle Berry as Catwoman and Midnight the cat for scenes that could not be filmed practically,” says Jones.
“To create the digital replications of Halle, high resolution digital scans, photo references and plaster life-casts were taken. Additionally, we scanned her entire wardrobe to capture all the textural qualities so that we could replicate every detail. We filmed Halle doing a range of emotional facial performances that were then mapped on to her digital double to give us a synthetic character with real facial performances. The goal was to blend the digital characters with the real performers to create seamless, realistic and believable action. Several of the sequences also involved the same digital tools to create the environments virtually. Consequently, there are shots in the movie that are 100% digital.”
THE CAT’S PAJAMAS
In honor of the last day of principal photography on February 20, 2004, many of the Catwoman crew went to work in their pajamas. The reason was two-fold: firstly, to prepare for a well-deserved and perhaps lengthy catnap; and secondly, to celebrate what was for them, the cast and the filmmakers, a truly extraordinary experience.
When asked what she misses most about playing Catwoman, Berry says, “The sense of power, her ‘don’t mess with me’ attitude. Playing her I was allowed to live in this altered state for a little while where I could just soar. That feeling of freedom is something that really benefited my own life and it’s something that I can carry with me forever. It’s in me now and I don’t think it will ever go away.”
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