Zoë Kravitz Recalls Being Rejected From 'Dark Knight Rises' For Being 'Too Urban'

DC's "The Batman" was theatrically released over the weekend, and it has been making major waves. The superhero reboot is fast breaking records with an opening weekend that grossed a whopping $128.5 million.

"The Batman" stars Robert Pattison as the titular character Batman/Bruce Wayne alongside Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman/Selina Kyle and the partners-in-crime take on the notorious criminals of Gotham City.

The 2022 movie is Kravitz's first time embodying the mysterious femme fatale character that is Catwoman, but the journey to this point was filled with rejections ― particularly a painful one associated with the "Batman" franchise.

Kravitz recently sat down with The Guardian to discuss the success of her new project and how she worked hard to mold herself into the role of Catwoman.

While discussing her journey in Hollywood, which has all led to this very moment of being a DC superhero, Kravitz touched on how race has played a huge role in her career.

The 33-year-old, the daughter of iconic actress Lisa Bonet and legendary singer Lenny Kravitz, talked about how she seemed destined for success because of her parents' fame.

However, that wasn't the case as she faced the same obstacles her parents did — race.

"They both dealt with being artists who didn't act or dress or look or sound the way a Black person was supposed to act in terms of what white people specifically were comfortable with," Kravitz said.

Unfortunately, Kravitz, who says her parents didn't give her "the talk" on racism in Hollywood, faced a similar fate as a biracial actress. "I felt really insecure about my hair, relaxing it, putting chemicals in it, plucking my eyebrows thin. I was uncomfortable with my blackness," she lamented.

Even though she finally embraced and accepted her blackness, the world didn't and fed her with numerous underpowered roles. When she wasn't given subordinate roles, she was outrightly rejected.

One of such rejections that particularly stood out happened in 2012 during an audition for "The Dark Knight Rises." Kravitz confessed that she was turned away for being "too urban."

Although she clarified that she is unsure if the rejection came from director Chris Nolan, Kravitz admitted the rejection hurt her.

Being a woman of color and being an actor and being told at the time that I wasn’t able to read because of the color of my skin, and the word urban being thrown around like that, that was what was really hard about that moment.

The Los Angeles native was finally able to overcome being looked at through the lens of color, but the HBO series "Big Little Lies" made that happen.

The critically acclaimed series shot Kravitz to A-list status, but according to her, that happened because the character Bonnie Howard Carlson was "originally written for a white person."

"There were a few moments where I felt a little uncomfortable because it is such a white area. Just weird racist people in bars and things like that," Kravitz commented.

The "High Fidelity" star recalled that she was usually sent scripts explicitly about race for a while. She explained, "all the scripts that were being sent were about the first Black woman to make a muffin or something. Even though those stories are important to tell, I also want to open other things up for myself as an artist."

Kravitz's revelation about her experience with "The Dark Knight Rises" comes on the heels of a heartwarming recognition for her performance as Catwoman.

Among the numerous fans who went to catch the movie during its opening weekend was legendary singer Taylor Swift.

Swift was super impressed by the movie and Kravitz's performance that she took to her Instagram story to give a shoutout. Alongside a scene from the film, Swift wrote, "@Zoe Isabella Kravitz IS THE CATWOMAN OF DREAMS!" She also praised "The Batman"' for being "phenomenal."

The singer's review aligns with the fans' reactions to the reboot. As of this writing, "The Batman" has an 85% Tomatometer rating from 366 reviews and a 90% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.