Robert Pattinson & Zoë Kravitz Talk Rigorous 'Batman' Chemistry Test

With just over a week until the long-awaited premiere of The Batman, much of the conversation surrounding the film has centered around former Twilight star Robert Pattinson making his debut as the iconic Bruce Wayne.

Falling into the storied lineage of actors who have stepped into the vaunted Batsuit, Pattinson is set to join Adam West, Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Christian Bale and Ben Affleck as the newest guardian of Gotham.

However, as Pattinson has broken down playing the DC Comics superhero — and described what it was like to try on each Batsuit worn by the Batmen who came before him during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! — some attention has shifted to the rest of The Batman cast.

In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, actress Zoë Kravitz detailed her Catwoman (aka Selina Kyle) character, and broke down everything that went into perfecting the on-screen chemistry between her and Pattinson's Batman.

"The chemistry read was really intense," Kravitz told Entertainment Weekly. "Rob was wearing the Batsuit, and it was a proper camera test with the DP there and everything on a soundstage. It wasn't just reading lines in a room."

"It was intimidating, to say the least," the 33-year-old added.

Director Matt Reeves, who also directed Rise of the Planet of the Apes, said that if both Kravitz and Pattinson were overwhelmed by the initial chemistry read, they didn't show it.

"They really connected," Reeves told Entertainment Weekly. "Everyone could see there was something really special between them."

Despite Catwoman's kleptomaniacal tendencies and Batman's deep-rooted desire to rid Gotham of all criminals, Kravitz explained that the two characters were forced to put aside their differences and coexist — something she says forced the pair out of their comfort zone.

"They have quite a strong connection pretty quickly, and I think they're both trying to ignore them," she said. "They're both very surprised by feeling a connection with somebody because that's quite rare for them."

Earlier this month, Halle Berry, who played Catwoman in 2004's Catwoman, expressed her excitement for the latest installment in the Batman franchise and offered advice to Kravitz. (Berry also told ComicBook.com that she would be open to reprising her role as Catwoman in the future.)

"Just be courageous and bring her own interpretation to the role," Berry told PopCulture.com. "I think she's going to be an amazing Catwoman. And I can't wait to see what her interpretation is."

Kravitz, who assured that her interpretation of Catwoman is "an incredibly strong woman," also told Entertainment Weekly that by the end of the movie's lengthy filming process, she was ready to say goodbye to Selina Kyle.

"It was the solitude and the routine that was really hard," Kravitz said. "I know all of us were in lockdown and it was intense for everybody, but I was away from home and completely isolated because of COVID and not wanting to get sick for the movie's sake."

"It was really interesting to tell a story about a city in turmoil while the world was the way it was, or is right now," she added.

In a recent GQ cover story, Pattinson echoed Kravitz' sentiment about being isolated while filming The Batman.

Describing the 18-month long shooting period as a "bubble within a bubble," the 35-year-old told GQ that "the nature of shoot was so kind of insular, always shooting at night, just really dark all the time."

"I felt very much alone," he added.

Although Pattinson and Kravitz have demanded the majority of the buzz leading up to The Batman (Kravitz trended on Twitter today for a Saint Laurent coat she wore to a press event in Paris), other cast members have explained the toll the movie took on their personal lives.

Last week, actor Paul Dano made waves when he said that his role as Batman villain The Riddler had a major effect on his personal life, and that playing the character had significantly altered his sleeping schedule.

"I probably didn't sleep as well as I would've wanted to just because it was a little hard to come down from this character," Dano told Entertainment Weekly. "It takes a lot of energy to get there...you almost have to sustain it once you're there because going up and down is kind of hard."

The Batman is scheduled to hit theaters on March 4, 2022, and at two hours and 55 minutes, the Reeves-directed film will be the longest Batman movie in the franchise's 56-year history, according to Deadline.