Annette Bening, who plays the formidable Beulah Jackson in the Yellowstone spinoff series Dutton Ranch, recently sat down with The Playlist to discuss the show. Somewhere between talking ranch drama and Taylor Sheridan’s vision, she circled back to one of Hollywood’s most compelling what-ifs. Before she was in the Dutton universe, she was almost Catwoman.
Bening was officially cast as Selina Kyle in Tim Burton’s Batman Returns (1992) well before cameras rolled. Production had moved far enough along that the iconic Catwoman costume, the latex suit, the mask, all of it, had already been custom-fitted to her body. She then became pregnant and had to step away from the role.
How One Pregnancy Changed Catwoman Forever
Annette Bening in Dutton Ranch | Credits: Paramount+
Annette Bening, one of the newest stars of Dutton Ranch, is reigniting one of Hollywood’s most enduring what-if stories: she was cast as Catwoman in Tim Burton’s Batman Returns, and the role ultimately went to Michelle Pfeiffer after Bening became pregnant.
The detail that makes this story stick is not just that she auditioned or was in the running. Bening was officially cast. The production team had already fitted the costume and mask to her body before the pregnancy forced her out. During her latest talk with The Playlist, she mentioned:
Yes, I do remember it. Yeah, I was going to play Catwoman, Of course, when one gets pregnant, you can’t announce it right away. You have to wait for a while to make sure everything’s cool. So yeah, I do remember it, and he was incredibly kind, Tim Burton, when I called him up and said, ‘Hey, I’m really sorry, but I’m pregnant, and so I’m not going to be able to do the film
When Bening exited, Pfeiffer stepped in late enough that some of the costume pieces originally made for Bening were repurposed for her. She then trained intensively: kickboxing, whip work, and delivered what many still consider the definitive Catwoman performance.
The story is back in the spotlight as Bening is back in the news with Dutton Ranch. The role is Beulah Jackson, an addition to the Dutton family saga that has already put her in the center of press coverage.
Dutton Ranch is streaming on Paramount+
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