LOS ANGELES: Christopher Nolan is looking at some of Hollywood’s leading stars — as well as a few emerging talents — for major female roles in The Dark Knight Rises, his next Batman film.
Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that Keira Knightley, Anne Hathaway and Jessica Biel are due to test for roles in the Warner Bros superhero tent pole in the next two weeks.
However, Knightley, Hath-away and Biel are not the only ones testing for the role, newcomers including Kate Mara and Charlotte Riley are also scheduled to test for the upcoming film. British sensation, Gemma Arterton is another contending star for the prospective part and has just landed the female lead in Paramount’s Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters. However, the star might be faced with scheduling issues because of her prior commitments.
While Mara has previously performed brief roles in 127 Hours and Iron Man 2, Rooney Mara (Kate’s sister) is currently shooting for the title role in David Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
The second newcomer is Riley who has done mostly done work on television. Riley is engaged to Tom Hardy, who co-starred in Nolan’s summer smash Inception and has already booked an unspecified role in The Dark Knight Rises.
The Dark Knight Rises needs to fill two big female roles, a villain and a love interest. Sources say one of the characters is that of Talia, the daughter of villain Ra Al Ghul, who was portrayed by Liam Neeson in Nolan’s first Gotham-set crime film, Batman Begins. In the comic books, Talia is both Batman’s lover and antagonist, ultimately siring his alter ego Bruce Wayne’s son.
The film is currently looking at a shooting commencement in May in London and Los Angeles. Although many elements of the film may still seem sketchy and undecided, one aspect of the movie remains constant — Christian Bale will return to the franchise as the caped crusader of the night.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 13th, 2011.
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