Christopher Nolan initially said "no" when 'The Dark Knight Rises' casting director suggested Anne Hathaway as Catwoman

In 2011, Anne Hathaway beat out Jessica Biel and Keira Knightley to play Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises. However, she might never have had the chance if casting director John Papsidera hadn't persuaded Christopher Nolan.

Papsidera, who has helped cast almost every Nolan movie (including The Odyssey), recently spoke to Collider at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival. When asked about a role he and Nolan debated over, Papsidera named Hathaway as Catwoman. He revealed that Nolan's initial response to the suggestion was a "no", before ultimately giving in and trusting his casting director's instinct.

It was on one of the Batman films, over Catwoman. I had had an experience with Anne Hathaway on another film where she was amazing and blew everybody away, and that film never got made. So, I walked into the conversation with Chris when he said, 'I'm concerned who Catwoman's going to be.' And I said, 'Oh, I know who it is.'

And he said, 'Who?' And I said, 'It's Anne Hathaway.' And he said, 'No, it's not.' I said, 'Oh, yes, it is.'

And so that was as much pushback as there was, and I explained why, and then we went all the way through the process of screen testing and seeing people. At the end of the screen test—they love this little game—they'll look at me and go, 'So what'd you think? Who is it?' And I said, 'I told you, it's Anne Hathaway.' And they were like, 'You were right.' So, I was vindicated."

What did you think of Anne Hathaway as Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises? Do you think John Papsidera and Christopher Nolan made the right choice? Let me know in the comments below.