Anne Hathaway Got Cast as Black Cat in Sam Raimi’s ‘Spider-Man 4,’ but ‘I Did Not Get Into Costume’ or ‘Read a Script’ Before Project Was Axed

Anne Hathaway was all signed up and ready to play Felicia Hardy a.k.a. Black Cat opposite Tobey Maguire in Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man 4,” but the movie fell apart when Sony Pictures decided not to continue the Raimi-Maguire storyline. The studio opted to reboot the Marvel hero instead (Andrew Garfield’s “The Amazing Spider-Man”), but Hathaway is not hung up on missing out on her chance to play Black Cat. During an interview on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast, Hathaway revealed she never even read a full “Spider-Man 4” script.

“I did not get into costume and did not read a script past the audition sides,” Hathaway explained. “I got the part and, yeah, it just… That’s probably more the producers’ story to tell than mine, should they ever decide to tell it. The ‘Spider-Man’ universe has gone on to be so enormous and so thrilling. It’s just reinventing itself and all of those things, so I wouldn’t want to make more of it than is necessary.”

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Hathaway didn’t get to star in a “Spider-Man” movie, but she thinks that only helped her chances of landing the role of Catwoman in Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight Rises.” The film marked the start of a collaboration with Christopher Nolan that continued with “Interstellar.”

“If [‘Spider-Man 4’] had gotten made, I don’t know if I would’ve been considered for [‘The Dark Knight Rises’],” Hathaway noted, stressing that every role does or does not happen for a reason. “Perhaps [Christopher Nolan] would’ve said, ‘No, she’s occupied in another universe.’”

Hathaway’s overall career philosophy is that every role does or does not happen for a reason, so it’s never worth it to regret missed opportunities like “Spider-Man 4.”

“You learn to just go… the right role finds the right person, and sometimes it’s you and sometimes not,” Hathaway said. “When it doesn’t happen, trust deeper and keep going … It sounds maybe corny but you really do have to keep it grateful.”

Watch Hathaway’s full appearance on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast in the video below.

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