{"id":688017,"date":"2026-07-12T18:14:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T18:14:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/688017\/"},"modified":"2026-07-12T18:14:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T18:14:12","slug":"the-dream-2012-role-michelle-pfeiffer-waited-over-40-years-for","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/688017\/","title":{"rendered":"The dream 2012 role Michelle Pfeiffer waited over 40 years for"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Michelle<\/p>\n

Credit: Far Out \/ Columbia Pictures<\/p>\n

Sun 12 July 2026 15:45, UK <\/p>\n

Michelle Pfeiffer<\/a>\u2019s weirdest film fulfilled her childhood dream.<\/p>\n

Tim Burton is a director with such a specific, eccentric style of filmmaking<\/a> that he becomes the star of whatever project he works on, regardless of any A-list actors that are attached. The requirement of someone in Burton\u2019s ensemble is to adhere to his vision, as there are only a few performances that transcend that stipulation<\/a>. <\/p>\n

One of the few actors to do it is Michelle Pfeiffer, whose performance as Selina Kyle in Batman Returns was both a perfect interpretation of the comics and a great adaptation of Burton\u2019s material. She set such a precedent with one of DC Comics\u2019 greatest characters that every subsequent actor cast as Catwoman has had to live up to her legacy.<\/p>\n

Despite the praise that Pfeiffer got for her performance, she surprisingly didn\u2019t work with Burton again for several decades. While Burton had many interesting projects, Pfeiffer grew excited when she heard<\/a> that he would be directing a new version of Dark Shadows.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had this memory of loving the TV show,\u201d Pfeiffer said. \u201cI\u2019d sprint home from school so I didn\u2019t miss one second of it. I just wanted to be in the movie, work with Tim Burton again, and work with Johnny Depp.\u201d<\/p>\n

While she considered the project to be a pipe dream, Pfeiffer went out of her way to indicate to Burton that she was interested.<\/p>\n

\u201dOne day I called Tim and said, \u2018Look, I don\u2019t know if there\u2019s anything for me, but I\u2019d love to do it,\u2019\u201d Pfeiffer said. \u201cA year went by, maybe more, and I thought, \u2018It\u2019s never going to happen,\u2019 but it did. I had so much fun making it!\u201d<\/p>\n

Further reading: Cutting Room Floor<\/p>\n

Dark Shadows reimagined the classic supernatural sitcom with Pfeiffer and Depp in the roles of Barnabas Collins and Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, respectively. They weren\u2019t the only alumni of Burton\u2019s previous work that made an appearance in the film; other former collaborators that were part of the Dark Shadows ensemble included Christopher Lee and Helena Bonham Carter, alongside fresher faces like Chloe Grace Moretz, Jonny Lee Miller, and Eva Green, who would reunite with Burton on Miss Peregrine\u2019s Home for Peculiar Children and Dumbo.<\/p>\n

Although there had been critical scepticism for nearly all of Burton\u2019s films released in the 21st century, Dark Shadows was his first release in a while that outright bombed; the marketing campaign hadn\u2019t made it clear who the intended audience was, and it didn\u2019t help that the Halloween-themed film was released in the middle of May, and only one week after the record-breaking opening weekend of The Avengers. While Pfeiffer\u2019s performance didn\u2019t catch too much criticism, it began to feel like Depp had been using Burton as a crutch, as he was starting to rely on familiar schtick with each role.<\/p>\n

Dark Shadows marked another step forward in Burton\u2019s decline, as his films in the next decade began to underperform both critically and financially; the one exception was Frankenweenie, released the same year, which earned Burton his second-ever Academy Award nomination for \u2018Best Animated Feature\u2019. While Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was the rare win that felt like Burton had more to offer than just empathy nostalgia, it\u2019s unclear if the 67-year-old filmmaker has it in himself to make another masterpiece on the level of Batman Returns ever again.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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