EXCL: SHH! Chats Up Maggie G. on Dark Knight

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EXCL: SHH! Chats Up Maggie G. on Dark Knight

Source:Edward Douglas

March 24, 2008

One of the surprises from last week's ShoWest Convention in Las Vegas was Warner Bros.' star-studded "The Big Picture" presentation which featured some of the cast and filmmakers of the studio's big summer movies including Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight. One person who showed up unannounced was actress Maggie Gyllenhaal, who replaces Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes in the upcoming sequel, and Superhero Hype! had a chance to talk to her briefly on the red carpet for the event.

Despite being the new girl in the franchise, Gyllenhaal was gracious towards her predecessor when asked whether her portrayal was inspired by Holmes' version or would be completely different. "I think she's a wonderful actress and I really admired the work that she did in the first Batman, but I don't think it would have worked if I tried to imitate her. I think the only way to do it is to do it like myself," Gyllenhaal told us.

"They just (expect you to) suspend your disbelief," she continued when pressed about whether there'd be any sort of nod or mention of the fact that Rachel Dawes looks and acts completely different in the movie. "I'm Rachel Dawes now. I mean, how many Batmen have there been? Lots of them!"

Even though Gyllenhaal has become a name actress in recent years, she's continued to do smaller independent films with only a few exceptions, so we asked her whether joining a blockbuster franchise like Batman has made her life any crazier. "It hasn't really started yet, that craziness," she admitted to us. "I imagine it will and I'll just take it as it comes, that kind of thing, and in terms of the actual making of it, I anticipated it was going to be much different than making a small movie, and in the end, it didn't feel that way, and I think it was because I was working with really good actors like Gary Oldman and Michael Caine and Christian Bale, Aaron Eckhart and Heath Ledger. It felt like making any other movie, and I think Chris Nolan has a lot to do with that, and also because he really likes and respects actors, so it felt like doing good scenes in any movie."

Before she was whisked off to the presentation, we asked whether she'd been getting into any of the action in the new movie and how that had been. "Somewhat," she responded. "They took really good care of me. I thought I might get bruised up but in fact, I didn't. They really knew what they were doing. I was scared to do some of the action stuff I had to do, and I did it once, and I was like, 'Oh, this is a blast!'"

Next up for Gyllenhaal is Rebecca Miller's adaptation of her own novel The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, but we hope to have more with the vibrant young actress closer to the release of The Dark Knight on July 18.

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Posted by: Tad on March 24, 2008 at 02:28:27

Thank whatever higher power you recognize that they recast Katie Holmes. I loved "Batman Begins," but every time her irrepressible, sideways smirk weasels its way on screen, I cringe. Maggie was a good choice.

Posted by: sncfrk on March 24, 2008 at 02:29:46

sorry I won't "first" anymore. Once is good enough for me.
Anyway, I guess Gyllenhaal will be ok. Not as pretty as Katie Holmes in my opinion. But she kind of looks like her at least. Just..less attractive and elegant

Posted by: Jaison Biagini on March 24, 2008 at 02:30:49

this movie will be sooo good. i wonder who cast katie holmes anyway?? she is a crappy actress. she should go jump up and down on oprah's sofa. M.G. was so hot in the secretary. much better choice.

Posted by: NightCrawler on March 24, 2008 at 02:32:08

Duno what to expect from her... Hope her performance is good. Can't wait for the movie!

Posted by: Tex on March 24, 2008 at 02:35:46

i believe she will do better than katie holmes did. shes done well in smaller movies. TDK will be great either way.

Posted by: FireFly's Enigma on March 24, 2008 at 02:48:26

This will be the top movie of the year; next will be Iron Man! I'm not a DC fan however Batman is the only comic I read/watch from them. I do watch others but none have caught my movie, loving heart. Ledger's Joker looks to be a mind blowing experience. R.I.P.

Posted by: MeSo Hornee on March 24, 2008 at 02:51:11

FUGLY!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: GI_SnakeEyes on March 24, 2008 at 03:14:10

I HATED Holmes in the first one so glad they replaced her, she is such a horrible actress. I know I'm not the only person who noticed her frickin nippls were hard in every scene she was in, I was like dam girl get a bra on.

Posted by: hmmmmm on March 24, 2008 at 03:20:51

in holmes defense, i think it was the character of rachel dawes that wasn't needed, and that's why all the fanboys always backlash against her

she didn't have much to work with, and lets face it: the only reason her character existed was so WB could have a "romantic" angle on batman and try to cover all bases/demographics

maggie is a better actress than katie, but she was fine in begins. just an unnecessary character in general, she should've been written out for TDK, her ending in begins was fine

Posted by: JP McCune on March 24, 2008 at 03:21:32

She is not an attractive woman, which is why I can't seem to figure out my attraction to her. I guess the proper euphemism for, "I just want to make crazy monkey love with her" is, "she has a strong sex appeal."

Posted by: Steelsheen on March 24, 2008 at 03:21:39

thank the heavens for Maggie G!

now if we could only convince Nolan of reshooting all of the Rachel scenes in BB, then do a Star Wars by editing out Katie Holmes and replacing them with Maggie G. :-D

Posted by: bat u on March 24, 2008 at 03:28:50

batmans overrated and outdone chris nolan cant do justice to what joel schumaker did!!!!! bring back joel

Posted by: PTO on March 24, 2008 at 03:36:20

Gyllenhaal is the perfect actress to replace Katie Holmes for the role of Rachel Dawes. They both look relatively similar although IMO Gyllenhaal is a better actress.

Posted by: FireFly's Enigma on March 24, 2008 at 03:37:59

Steelsheen, no no no. I agree that I don't like Holmes in this new series, but what they did with Star Wars is horrible. The same will happen with Batman Begins. Star Wars has its flaws and so does BB. I say live and let it go. All changes to the already great movie would be...blasphemy. I said the same for the ad-ons to the original Star Wars trilogy.

Posted by: IronManDan on March 24, 2008 at 03:51:05

They should have just written Rachael's character out of the sequel... she's not a necessary character.

Posted by: True Batman Fan on March 24, 2008 at 04:10:36

No way you need Rachael in the sequal and Maggie is going to be the bomb in it

Posted by: Kat on March 24, 2008 at 04:20:03

The only bad thing about Batman Begins is Katie Holmes. I can't tell you how pleased I was when I heard she was replaced. I think the character Gyllenhaal shall portray will be much more fitting for the new franchise.

Posted by: Boop! on March 24, 2008 at 04:22:43

Truely cannot wait! Only 4 months to go now! Nolan rocks my socks! :D

Posted by: I7eIVIoNBoY on March 24, 2008 at 04:41:45

if you walk into a bakery and they sell day old items say wtf is this sh** just throw it out

Posted by: sytrus on March 24, 2008 at 05:45:27

Holmes is (very)more cute than Maggie, but
Gyllenhaal is (very) good actress, wait and see
:)

Posted by: B. Trask on March 24, 2008 at 05:51:52

Everyone is like, "Rachel Dawes character was unnecessary." Just because her character didn't exist before Batman Begins doesn't make her character unnecessary. And besides, every great hero vs. villian story needs a damsel in distress (it's storytelling 101).

But I agree 100% about Katie Holmes. She totally blew in the Carmine Falcone flashback scene where she slaps Bruce after he shows his handgun. She really could have pulled off that entire scene by acting with her eyes. But what did we get instead? The "Katie Smirk."

But now we can rest easy because we got Maggie Gyllenhaal (who should have been cast to begin with). I'm just going to pretend that the Rachel Dawes of BB is now all grown up in TDK.

Posted by: Spider on March 24, 2008 at 06:43:29

Posted by: bat u on March 24, 2008 at 03:28:50

batmans overrated and outdone chris nolan cant do justice to what joel schumaker did!!!!! bring back joel

True. If you want a total crap. Jeez, Bat U, is this supposed to be sarcastic or something?

Posted by: Matt Mosley on March 24, 2008 at 06:48:57

I HATE it when they recast people.

At least they got someone that looks like her.

Posted by: John on March 24, 2008 at 07:01:39

Rachel Dawes looks and acts completely different in the movie? That is the stupidest thing I think I've ever heard. This character could have been written out.

Posted by: The Rondo Hatton Blues Explosion on March 24, 2008 at 07:30:18

B. Trask, in my opinion Rachel Dawes was and remains unnecessary in the Batman movies, and not because she didn't exist prior to Begins.

It's because she was a plot device to get more butts in seats. Add a romantic angle, get someone other than the fanboys in the theater. Happens all the time.

As for the "damsel in distress", that would be, in my opinion, Gotham City.

Just saying.

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