New Catwoman Anne Hathaway based her performance in the latest Batman movie on Hedy Lamarr, the glamorous 1940s film star who first inspired the character. The Devil Wears Prada star is the latest actress to take on the role of the Caped Crusader’s feline nemesis, following in the footsteps of Julie Newmar, Eartha Kitt and Michelle Pfeiffer, in Christopher Nolan’s upcoming The Dark Knight Rises. Hathaway has now revealed she went back to the character’s roots for her portrayal, basing her performance on late Hollywood legend Lamarr, who was cited as the inspiration for Catwoman by comic book artist Bob Kane. She tells the Los Angeles Times, “I know this sounds odd, but her breathing is extraordinary. She takes these long, deep, languid breaths and exhales slowly. There’s a shot of her in (1933 film) Ecstasy exhaling a cigarette and I took probably five breaths during her one exhale. So I started working on my breathing a lot.” Hathaway also admits she isn’t fazed by stepping into such a famous role as each actress to have played Catwoman gave the character their own unique stamp. She adds, “What’s come before doesn’t limit or even affect this new version. It doesn’t affect me because each Catwoman – and this is true in the comics as well – she is defined by the context of the Gotham City created around her… Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman was informed by Tim Burton’s Gotham and Eartha Kitt was informed by Adam West’s Gotham. You have to live in whatever the reality of the world is and whatever Gotham is.”

Anne Hathaway has a ritzy new home in New York – the actress and her new fiance have moved into an apartment in the exclusive One Main Clocktower Building. The Brokeback Mountain star and actor Adam Shulman took up residency in the luxury Brooklyn building in December, according to Life & Style magazine. A neighbour tells the publication, “They looked adorable together.”

Anne Hathaway is engaged. The One Day actress’ boyfriend of three years, Adam Shulman, recently popped the question with a Kwiat Heritage engagement ring, her rep confirmed to US Weekly. The couple started dating in 2008 following Anne’s split from Raffaello Follieri, after he pled guilty to 14 counts of money laundering, conspiracy and wire fraud and Anne recently revealed Adam “ruined” her plan of staying single. She explained: “We hit if off immediately but it took us a pretty long time to get together. He thought that I had a boyfriend and I thought that he had a girlfriend, so I thought that I’d better keep my distance because I didn’t want to be that girl. “Mellow doesn’t always make for a good story, but it makes for a good life. “I am very much in love with him, [only] Adam totally ruined my plan. I was really actually looking forward to a little alone time, and then I fell in love like a fool!” Anne – who had previously been against the idea of getting married – revealed she changed her mind about the institution after witnessing her best friend walk down the aisle. She said: “I am open to marriage, actually. I just went through a phase where I wanted to look at it from every angle to make sure that I wasn’t just falling in step with some kind of prescribed fantasy. “I was at my best friend’s wedding recently, and I watched this person who I love like a sister, and who has changed my life and continues to change my life for the better, who I feel as close to as I do my family, commit herself to a man who she loves, and I watched how happy it made her. “I mean, she looked like she was riding a bubble the whole night. I thought, ‘Weddings are important because they celebrate life and possibility.’ “

Director Christopher Nolan is pushing actress Anne Hathaway to the limits when it comes to her Catwoman fight scenes for The Dark Knight Rises. In trying to capture a series of realistic brawls, the actress has already given one stuntman a serious black eye after pummeling the butt of her gun into his eye socket. Now, the girl can’t seem to stay in her latex outfit. The IMAX cameras utilized in shooting The Dark Knight Rises don’t allow for much cheating when it comes to throwing a stage punch, which is demanding that the actors get incredibly physical. Anne Hathaway has taken the challenge to heart, throwing herself into these intense action scenes with all of her might. This aggressive behavoir has now seen her tearing out the ass of her Catwoman costume more than once. It might be easy to make jokes about her weight when first hearing how the new Selina Kyle is tearing through her sexy wardrobe, but the svelte actress has never been in better shape. It is a combination of the materials being used to bring this version of Catwoman to life, mixed with her hyper-physicality, that is actually causing the problem. An insider who was on set had this to say. “Anne was filming a very similar fight scene when her costume split right open right on her bottom. She’s putting everything into this role both physically and emotionally and the wardrobe department is paying the price. She must have gone through a dozen costume changes due to throwing herself around.” Christian Bale and Tom Hardy will be pushed to similar limits when their climactic fight scenes are filmed. Rumor has it that the character Bane will actually break Batman’s spine. If the two actors go at it at the same speed Anne Hathaway has, they better be careful, or someone could get seriously injured.

Director Christopher Nolan is keeping the action down and dirty on the set of The Dark Knight Rises. Actress Anne Hathaway, who is playing Selina Kyle (aka Catwoman), got so carried away shooting a fight scene, she injured her opposing stuntman. Apparently, Anne Hathaway was so lost in the moment, she shoved the butt of her gun full-force into the stunt actor’s eye socket, turning half his face black and blue. An insider who was on set at the time had this to say. “Anne got a bit carried away during a fight scene…He came away with a massive black eye. Anne was mortified.” The stunt actor remained “good natured” about the incident, with Anne Hathaway sending him an engraved silver pin that read, “Remember no one packs a punch like Anne.” The Dark Knight Rises promises to have some of the best, most authentic fight scenes ever captured on film.

Anne Hathaway has signed an open letter to President Barack Obama, urging him to change his stance on same-sex marriage. Anne Hathaway, the American actress and star of “Love and Other Drugs” has signed a letter that was posted to President Obama on Monday (March 14), appealing for him to be more supportive towards gay marriage, reports Yahoo News. Hathaway signed the letter along with the television host Ellen Degeneres, Glee comedian and actress Jane Lynch and several others high profile stars. Obama has recently spoken about his ‘evolving’ opinion on gay marriage and celebrities such as Martin Sheen, Mya and DeGeneres’ partner Portia De Rossi have already noted that the President could be more supportive of the gay rights movement. The latest letter, titled ‘Say I Do, Mr President’, is part of a campaign by the marriage equality group ‘Freedom to Marry’ and reads, “In February, you made a powerful statement about the law. We ask you now for your leadership on ending the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage – an exclusion that harms millions of Americans each day. Whether to end discrimination in marriage is a question America has faced before, and faces again today”. The letter then urges to Obama to “end exclusion from marriage” and adds, “We ask you to complete your journey and join us, and the majority of Americans, who support the freedom to marry”.

The selection of James Franco and Anne Hathaway to host this year’s Oscars telecast was a mistake, a high-ranking member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has acknowledged. In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, the member, who asked not to be identified, said, “A lot of us said Franco, who is a good actor, is the wrong guy when it was announced. … We questioned the TV value of both hosts, and it turned out to be right.” The member also complained about allowing the show’s producers to select the hosts, without any input from the Academy’s board of governors. But Academy President Tom Sherak disagreed, saying “When you hire producers, you have to have confidence they are going to put on the show you are looking for.” Yet Sherak himself voiced discontent with the performance of the two hosts, remarking that “the chemistry seemed to be off” between them and adding “The problem is, in the past when you have a comic, that comic can play off what happens on the show. … I think that was missing. I think they were doing their job. Franco is a very charming guy, but sometimes you need a comic to make fun of things.”