Maggie Gyllenhaal, who replaces Katie Holmes in the upcoming Batman sequel The Dark Knight as Rachel Dawes was asked by Metro.co.uk about her role in the film and whether or not she would be playing more of a tough girl or, heaven forbid, a damsel in distress. Gyllenhaal answered saying:
There are moments of that. Chris Nolan, the director, would joke about how I had to resign myself to being a little bit of a damsel in distress but he pushed me in other ways to make her a powerful character. I play a lawyer and have real relationships with the people I’m interacting with in the movie. She’s very smart and a real rounded person. Of course, if you’re the girl in Batman, you’re going to be a damsel in distress to some extent but she’s a really great character. So many people I play are a mess; Rachel’s really clear about what’s important to her and unwilling to compromise her morals, which made a nice change.
I am curious to see what Maggie does with this role and if it is in any way larger than the role played by Holmes. While I didn’t think Katie Holmes was all that bad in Batman Begins the timing of her presence in the film was distracting considering everything that was going on with her and Tom Cruise at the time.
However, things have died down now so I wonder if the role was beefed up and Chris Nolan was so disappointed in Holmes that he felt he had to replace her, or if the role is small and the mere fact that Holmes is involved with Cruise was too much of a distraction for the helmer.
We can only wait to find out when The Dark Knight hits on July 18th, a date I am sure most of us are highly anticipating.
