Catwoman Star Zoë Kravitz Covers ELLE’s March 2022 Issue

Posted on February 14, 2022

Zoë Kravitz – the actress, musician, writer, and now director – has stopped reading the comments and started living on her own terms. For the March 2022 issue of ELLE, Kravitz speaks with Jessica Herndon about her upcoming role as Catwoman, her directorial debut with Pussy Island, pausing her social media, her rumored relationship with Channing Tatum and her positive outlook these days: “It’s been an interesting journey of remembering that there’s no finish line that I have to get to by a certain time. Playful, mischievous behavior is something I always hope to have, even when I’m 70 years old. The point of being alive is to experience life and play with it. There’s still so much fun to be had.”

 

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On growing up with parents who are in the industry and being ‘grateful’ to be their child: “There was a little bit of embarrassment around what came with my last name. People would always assume that if I got a job, it was because of that. That was hard. But I was incredibly privileged. I got an agent easily. I’m not going to pretend like it didn’t help me get into the room. But I had to remember that I work hard, and as a child I was putting on performances in my grandparents’ house. And it had nothing to do with who my family was. It was because I loved it.” Over time, embracing her unique path has been about “wanting to prove not only to the world, but to myself, that I deserve to take up space in the industry,” she adds. “I’m proud of where I come from. Now it’s nice to be in a space where I feel like when people ask me about my parents, I’m not like, ‘Let’s not talk about that.’ I’m like, ‘They’re awesome. I’m grateful to be their child. And I also am my own human being.’”

On auditioning for the role of Selina Kyle (aka Catwoman) that she will star in opposite Robert Pattinson in The Batman, directed by Matt Reeves: When her agent called about the role in late 2019, Kravitz remembers telling herself, “‘Okay, don’t get excited.’ One thing I’ve had to learn from an early age is when you get attached, it’s hard, and most of the time, you don’t get the part. So my instinct is always to say, ‘It’s not mine.’” Kravitz’s nerves at her audition added to her cynicism.  “[Matt] gave me a motorcycle helmet and was like, ‘Walk in, take it off, and start the scene.’ I was like, ‘This is how I don’t get the part.’ I don’t get the part because the helmet gets stuck on my head, and I don’t look cool. I’ll get my lines, but I will f**k up this helmet moment.” She didn’t. When Kravitz got the role, she remembers Reeves simply say­ing, “You’re her.”

On getting in shape for her role as Catwoman and ‘kicking a**’: After eight-hour days on set, she’d work out at home for three hours. “Obviously, you want to look good in a catsuit, but I wanted it to be realistic that I’m able to do anything in this film. So I had to be strong. I got stronger than I’ve ever been. That felt good, to see what I was capable of. I felt confident—and I could kick some a**.”

On easing into her thirties and feeling relieved her twenties are over: “I never want to go back. I was a mess. I wasn’t making choices based on what felt good to me. Now we’re in an era of, ‘What do I actually want?’ The good spot right now is taking a minute to say, ‘Maybe I should do this differently’ and seeing what that feels like.”

On pausing her Instagram in late 2021 after trolls came for her on the platform, claiming she showed too much flesh at the 2021 Met Gala, to which she’d worn a sheer metal mesh Saint Laurent gown: “Being uncomfortable with the human body is colonization/brainwashing. It’s just a body. We all got em,” Kravitz replied to one commenter. “The fact that people don’t think what they say affects a celebrity because you’re not a person to them is crazy. I’m a human being. I want to f**king defend myself.” Nearly a week after the event, she erased all her Instagram posts and posted only once for the remainder of the year. “The fact that I’m like, ‘Should I have not worn that?’ No, I do what I want to do, and I make what I want to make, and if I’m now starting to be afraid of what other people are going to say or think, I’m no longer doing my job as an artist. I’m not experiencing the world and putting that into art. I’m walking on eggshells. Fuck that. So, I needed to take a minute.”

On feeling optimistic: “I feel optimistic about life, and I think that comes hand in hand with it. All my relationships in life—my friendships, my romantic relationships, my family—the journey is learning how to show up honestly. Sometimes we can’t show up, and that’s okay as long as we know how to communicate that we love those people. That’s the 20-year-old who’s like, ‘I can do it all. I can do it all. I can do it all.’ And now I’m in a place where whatever I’m feeling is okay, wherever I’m at is okay.”

 

ELLE’s March 2022 issue is available on newsstands on March 1st.

 

Style Credits:
Cover: Catsuit by Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello
First Image: Embellished Swimsuit by Schiaparelli | Ring by Cartier
Second Image: Tank (at waist), Bra Top and Shorts by Givenchy | Silk Flower Choker by New York Vintage | Ring by Van Cleef & Arpels

Hair by Nikki Nelms
Makeup by Nina Park
Manicure by Betina Goldstein

Written by Jessica Herndon
Styled by Alex White
Photographed by Zoey Grossman

 

[Photo Credit: Zoey Grossman/ELLE Magazine]

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