Catwoman: Every Actress Who Has Played Selina Kyle In A DC Movie

Here's every movie actress that has put her own spin on DC's most beloved feline vigilante, the lethal Catwoman aka Selina Kyle. Despite the tremendous amount of legendary characters in the pages of DC comics, Catwoman has become one of the most recognizable heroes and villains in comic book history. As such, she has been adapted multiple times across all kinds of media, most notably in the movies. Every actress that has donned the catsuit has brought a unique approach to the role, and each of Catwoman's cinematic appearances has helped build the concept of who the character really is.

Catwoman debuted in 1940 as "The Cat", a jewel thief who defeated Batman with her charm instead of brute force. After a lovestruck Batman lets her escape at the end of their first encounter, she takes her job as a cat burglar too literally and adopts the famous moniker of "Catwoman", trading her golden-age cape for her emblematic whip and walking the line between friend and foe to the Batfamily. The woman beneath the mask, Selina Kyle, got a more serious makeover under Frank Miller's pen in the comic book arc Batman: Year One, and later received a boost in popularity thanks to Tim Burton's Batman Returns and popular animated shows like Batman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures.

Now, no adaptation of any Batman-related property can escape the consideration of a Catwoman appearance. Every previous portrayal of the character in a movie, live-action or animated, has made her essential to Batman's mythos, and she keeps evolving as new artists bring her to life in innovative ways. These are all of the actresses that have played the Feline Fatale in a DC movie so far.

Lee Meriwether

Lee Meriweather as Catwoman in the Batman 1966 movie

After more than a decade of hiatus in the 1950s, Catwoman not only returned to the world of comic books with a bang but also made her first jump to the big screen with Lee Meriwether's portrayal in the Batman movie in 1966. Following Julie Newmar's cherished portrayal from the first two seasons of the successful Batman show and preceding the memorable Eartha Kitt, Meriwether achieved the perfect blend of lethality and sensuality that the character is so famously known for. Despite the movie's exorbitant camp, Meriwether exuded a distinct degree of gravitas at the same time she embraced the joy of her villainous co-stars, which grounded the movie enough to keep the stakes high while also enjoying the absurdity of it all.

Fans of the 60s Batman show have a hard time deciding which of their three Catwomen was the definitive one. But even though Meriwether only played the wicked criminal in the movie, she's still remembered for her accurate portrayal of the character's feline qualities, as well as her determination to be in control over everyone in the room, including the dynamic duo and her own partners in crime. Just like her comic book counterpart, Lee Meriwether's Catwoman balanced light-heartedness with eroticism and had everybody dominated like a ball of yarn under her claws.

Michelle Pfeiffer

Perhaps the first image that comes to mind when the words "Catwoman's actress" are uttered is Michelle Pfeiffer backflipping on a snowy Gotham rooftop. Vacuum-sealed in a black ragged latex bodysuit, Pfeiffer gave Selina Kyle a dark twist in Tim Burton's Batman Returns. However, her sort of darkness wasn't today's gritty brand of realism that proliferates in movies like 2019's Joker, but a genuinely scary mix of psychological disturbance and paranormal mystery that made Catwoman more complex than any other femme fatale. Her unpredictability brought the iconic moral duality of the character to the spotlight, and she stole the show with her unrestrained lust in every scene she's in.

Needless to say, Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman quickly became a fan-favorite thanks to the actress's masterful portrayal. While every other superhero performance was considered a bit too distanced from reality at the time, she conducted the character to both popular and critical acclaim and brought lots of attention to the world of comic book movies. Pfeiffer's portrayal of an emotionally unstable Selina Kyle was so fascinating that many consider it the best performance of her career. Although Catwoman became a sex symbol thanks to Pfeiffer's sensuality, the actress also represented a fierce character that stood on her own in the bleak streets of Gotham, unmatched by the Penguin (Danny DeVito) and Batman himself (Michael Keaton). Today, this version of Catwoman is synonymous with excellence among live-action comic book interpretations.

Halle Berry

A Catwoman spinoff was supposed to be taking shape around the time Batman Returns premiered, but a series of inopportune events drove the movie into development hell. The project evolved and Halle Berry was the unfortunate soul that landed the protagonist role. Although Berry evidently gave her best and demonstrated a terrific level of physicality as the inexplicably-superpowered original character "Patience Phillips", she couldn't do anything to fix the movie's terrible writing and bizarre directorial decisions. Between tuna-binging and hilarious amounts of hissing, Berry nailed the mannerisms of a literal crazy cat-lady in what is often called one of the worst movies of all time.

There's no shadow of a doubt that both audiences and critics loathed Catwoman. The baffling costume choices did nothing to help Catwoman get past the stereotype of a sexy woman in a leather suit, and the script didn't let Halle Berry display her acting chops. Sadly, the most intense criticisms shifted to Berry herself, aiming for the cheesy pomposity of her character. As much as her performance is over-the-top, though, she's hardly ever called boring in the role, and the infamous pickup basketball scene proves that at least she made the most absurd moments of the film a little more fun.

Catwoman took a step back in the accurate representation of the comic book character as well as in the representation of strong female characters, since the main conflict had Catwoman fighting "supermodel wife" Laurel Hedare (Sharon Stone) for an anti-aging product. Looking back, it's mind-boggling that her overly sexualizing costume was conceived as an option, let alone approved. At least Halle Berry seemed to enjoy the most ridiculous moments as much as she seemed to enjoy her acceptance speech of the Razzie award for Worst Actress after the movie was universally panned.

Anne Hathaway

Following Christopher Nolan's cinematic landmarks Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, DC fans were eager to discover who the final newcomers in the last entry of the Dark Knight trilogy were going to be. Surprisingly, there wasn't much uproar when Anne Hathaway was announced as the Nolanverse's Catwoman. Some argued that a cat-themed burglar in a bodysuit couldn't possibly fit in the grounded world of Christian Bale's Batman and Heath Ledger's Joker. However, Hathaway proved otherwise. From her cleverly-designed suit to her twisted motivations, Hathaway's Selina Kyle stood out from previous iterations as a cold-headed criminal mastermind and injected new blood into Christopher Nolan's franchise.

The Oscar-winning actress gifted The Dark Knight Rises with the competent female character that the franchise so desperately needed. While the plot of the film didn't give her enough prominence to let her shine as much as Michelle Pfeiffer, Anne Hathaway enriched her performance with unprecedented nuances to the character. As soon as Selina Kyle starts switching personalities like cards on a deck while beating up goons in a cafe, it's obvious that Hathaway wasn't aiming for a run-of-the-mill supporting role in the movie. This time, her devious intellect took center stage over her ability to seduce the rest of the characters, and she outsmarted everyone without having to lick anyone's face to distract them. Although not as iconic as other portrayals of Catwoman and despite her contribution to Bane's (Tom Hardy) anti-climactic death, Hathaway was well-received by general audiences and DC fans alike.

Zoe Kravitz

Zoe Kravitz is the first Catwoman to have previous preparation for the role in the form of an appearance as the LEGO-fied version of the character in The Lego Batman Movie. Hers was a minor part in an ensemble cast, but preceded her casting in Matt Reeves' upcoming reboot The Batman. Little is still known about the 2021 movie, but the story will center around Robert Pattinson's new Bruce Wayne in his second year of crime-fighting in a more grounded take than Ben Affleck's Batman.

Catwoman will play a major role, or at least she will plant the seeds for a bigger presence in the newest era of DC movies. Zoe Kravitz has revealed that her portrayal of Catwoman will be inspired by Michelle Pfeiffer's iconic performance, and the latter has responded with nothing but support for the rising star, along with words of encouragement from Halle Berry and Anne Hathaway. As with the new Batsuit, Catwoman's new catsuit seems to take a heavier, more rugged look than its predecessors, and every aspect about the new Batman that has been revealed so far points out that Catwoman will stay as far away from magical elements as possible.

Actresses Who Played Catwoman In Animated DC Movies

Actresses who played Catwoman in DC animated movies

The world of animation has been kind to Catwoman. Besides the famous shows that gave her a push toward mainstream audiences, various animated movies also have shown different takes on the anti-heroine. These are the voice actresses behind the whip and claws in the animated DC movies.

Tress MacNeille in Batman: The Dark Knight Returns: The veteran voice actress known for Disney's Daisy Duck has been the only performer to play an aged Selina Kyle in the animated adaptation of Frank Miller's classic graphic novel.
Katherine Von Till in Lego Batman: The Movie – DC Super Heroes Unite: The current voice actress for Snow White played Catwoman in the direct-to-video companion of the popular video game four years before Zoe Kravitz did in the theatrical adaptation.
Julie Newmar in Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders and Batman vs Two-Face: The iconic Catwoman actress from the first two seasons of the 60s Batman TV series reprised her role for the animated tributes to the famous show.
Nika Futterman in Scooby-Doo! & Batman: The Brave and the Bold: Known for her villainous performance as the Sith Asajj Ventress in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Futterman played a more comedic Catwoman in this crossover.
Jennifer Carpenter in Batman: Gotham by Gaslight: Famous for playing Debra Morgan in Dexter and the titular character in The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Jennifer Carpenter portrayed a Victorian-era Selina Kyle before her most recent voice acting role as Sonya Blade in Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge.
Ai Kakuma and Grey Griffin in Batman Ninja: Ai Kakuma, known for her work on the anime show Brave Witches, provided her voice talent for the film. Along with Tress MacNeille, Grey Griffin has one of the most impressive filmographies as a voice actress, with credits like Vicky in The Fairly OddParents and Catwoman in the Arkham video game franchise.
Jennifer Morrison in the DC Animated Movie Universe: Catwoman was one of the characters that got the short end of the stick in this animated universe, but she got lucky to have Once Upon a Time's Emma Swan playing her in Batman vs. Robin and Batman: Hush.
Eliza Dushku in Batman: Year One: The voice behind She-Hulk in Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. played Jessie Burlingame in the cult horror film Wrong Turn before her performance as Selina Kyle.

Catwoman may not be fighting apocalyptic aliens on distant worlds as often as Batman and Superman, but all of her portrayals in different media have proved she's just as important. Many diverse approaches of the DC icon have shown the endless possibilities an interesting character can offer. With The Batman opening another cinematic dimension in 2021, Selina Kyle can become even more prominent.

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