Halle Berry is the Purr-fect Catwoman

Anubha Sawhney / TNN / Jul 31, 2004, 22:58 IST

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Academy Award-winning actress, supermodel and now Catwoman. Halle Berry sure has an impressive CV.

<arttitle>Halle Berry is the Purr-fect <i>Catwoman</i></arttitle>

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><script language="javascript">doweshowbellyad=0; </script> From Brazilian Martial Art Capoeira To Feline Behaviour, She Mastered Them All Academy Award-winning actress, supermodel and now Catwoman.Halle Berry sure has an impressive CV. In an exclusive interview to Sunday Times of India, she talks about her latest film scheduled to hit Indian theatres on August 6.</div> <div align="left" style="position:relative; left: -3"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="left" border="1" width="45.1%"> <colgroup> <col width="100.0%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><img src="/photo/798163.cms" alt="/photo/798163.cms" border="0" /></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal"> How long did you prepare for your role in Catwoman? Eight months. I did training and pre-production, costumes and wig design, fight training and I started learning the Brazilian martial art Capoeira. Did you study cats for the role? Oh yeah, I watched countless hours of video. We have a choreographer and cat movement specialist Ann Fletcher. She should put that on her resume now because she and I watched hours of documentaries on cats and she has cats that she studied. How did you like Capoeira, the Brazilian martial art that Catwoman uses in this film? It''s the hardest thing I''ve ever tried to do in my life. I have a great respect for all martial arts, especially Capoeira. You have to be in really good physical shape to be able to do an eighth of it. It''s really, really tough and I''ve been training a long time. What has been the hardest part about playing this role? Probably the stamina that it takes. It was very demanding work on a day-to-day basis. It''s a very physical role and keeping my stamina up day-after- day for 14, 16 hours a day, has begun to take its toll, not just on me, but everybody â€” the crew, the other actors. Our director, I don''t know how he''s still standing after all he''s been put through. I would say that it''s pretty gruelling. How has it been working with director Pitof? Pitof is so perfect for this movie because he comes from the world of special effects. And so he already has the movie in his head visually. I think that''s what''s made him very unique. He has so much pressure on him, his first big studio movie, so many deadlines to meet, so many issues laid on his shoulders daily, and he''s never once lost his cool and it''s admirable. And we really have appreciated the work environment that he''s created for us. Would you say Catwoman is in touch with her sexuality? Well, look at her costume. She''s obviously very much in touch with her sexuality. So she enjoys the whole get-up then? Oh, absolutely. She created it. She loves that part of herself and she''s okay with celebrating that part of herself. It''s about loving herself for all she really is because who she was before, was very insecure and unsure of herself. </div> </div><div class="section2"><div class="Normal"><script language="javascript">doweshowbellyad=0; </script> What did you think of the costume? It''s evolved from the suit that I originally saw but I was excited because right away, it was different than the costumes of the past. It symbolised a Catwoman of the 21st century and I''m happy that it was something different. What would be the point unless its different visually? No two women that have incarnated a Catwoman have had the same costume. So this costume is reflective of today, what the new generation, these young kids today, are aware of and what they respond to. I feel incredibly empowered and very free in it. You know, I do a lot of fighting in that costume and it allows me a lot of freedom and I have a lot of agility in that costume, very much like cats do. I particularly love that my toes are out. That''s very symbolic of a cat... their paws, their feet. I thought that was a brilliant idea. A costume designer came up with that idea and I thought it was great. Did you have any input on the costumes? </div> <div align="left" style="position:relative; left: -3"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="left" border="1" width="36.3%"> <colgroup> <col width="100.0%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><img src="/photo/798166.cms" alt="/photo/798166.cms" border="0" /></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal">Yeah, I did. The producers allowed all of us to have input in our characters. We have to bring them to life and they allowed our voices to be heard and they addressed our concerns and led us in directions, I think, that were ultimately right for the characters. And the whip? We all love the whip. Getting a crack out of that whip is not the easiest thing to do but once you get it, it''s so sexy and empowering. The whip is a really big part of Catwoman. Catwoman is quite different from her alter-ego Patience. Was it difficult switching gears between the two characters? Yeah, that was my challenge as an actress in all of this. One might look at it and say, oh, it''s a popcorn movie, but it really has proven to be a formidable acting job as well because I essentially play three characters in this movie and it was hard at times to keep them straight. Having Pitof''s eyes and ears not only aware of what was going on visually, but also tuned into what was going on emotionally with the characters all the time helped me keep them straight and keep them different from one another because sometimes it got really hard to know what line I was towing, how much Catwoman I am at a certain point and when does it start to mesh and the two characters start to become one. What aspect of this film did you enjoy the most? I was never a cat person until this movie and one of the cats that was in the movie, I''ve taken home. I''m learning that cats are very elusive and you really have to earn their respect and their love and their trust. Dogs just give it freely, but cats, you have to work a little bit harder, you know? Their love is very elusive and I think I''m enjoying that. What do you think audiences will think of this version of Catwoman? I think movies have become so sophisticated you have to offer audiences something they haven''t seen before. It''s about finding something different, introducing them to something new.</div> </div>

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