Warner Bros.
- A behind-the-scenes “Batman Returns” video shows Pfeiffer whipping heads off mannequins in one take.
- She told Indiewire she “worked really hard” to be able to do that scene.
- “I was very pleased with myself, because it was something that my stuntwoman actually couldn’t do.”
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Michelle Pfeiffer didn’t just bring the perfect attitude (and voice) to her portrayal of Catwoman in 1992’s “Batman Returns” – she was also pretty handy with the supervillain’s whip.
In the Tim Burton classic, Pfeiffer’s character is seen in the middle of the movie breaking into a Gotham City department store and using her whip to snap the heads off four mannequins before blowing the place up.
The fun sequence has a few cuts to tight shots of the heads falling off, so it’s not clear if Pfeiffer is actually doing the whipping. And in most instances for scenes like this, the actor steps aside and allows a stuntperson to do it.
But in a behind-the-scenes clip from the movie that surfaced in mid-February and instantly went viral, you see that Pfeiffer wasn’t just doing the whip work in the scene but dropped all four heads in one take. After doing it and jump roping with the whip off screen you hear the crew give Pfeiffer a huge round of applause.
—Jarett Wieselman (@JarettSays) February 19, 2021
In a recent interview with Indiewire, Pfeiffer, who is nominated at Sunday’s Golden Globes for her performance in “French Exit,” gave some insight on the whip scene.
"It was fun, just because I love playing that character, and I got really good at that whip,," she said. "I was very pleased with myself, because it was something that my stuntwoman actually couldn't do that I could do."
"I worked really hard on it, but it was a lot of rehearsal and getting the timing right," she continued. "I especially liked the jump roping at the end. I had forgotten about that!"
In the upcoming "The Flash" movie Michael Keaton will be reprising his Batman role, and the actress is not against taking on the Catwoman role.
"I would if anyone asked me," she recently told ScreenRant, "but no one's asked me yet."