When news first broke of the casting of San Diego-born Camren Bicondova in the iconic role of Selina Kyle on FOX’s Gotham, we praised the news and were first struck at the slight resemblance to Michelle Pfeiffer who played the role in 1992’s Batman Returns opposite Michael Keaton.
When we met up with her for interviews at the San Diego Comic-Con, we were shocked at how much younger she actually is and found it adorable that she is quite shy.
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During the roundtable, she discussed the pressure of playing Selina and where she drew her inspiration.
“I feel a little pressure because nobody’s taken on this time in her life before,” she tells us. “People ask me what it feels like to be playing a role this big, but I’m playing Selina Kyle. She’s not Catwoman yet.”
And in playing Selina in a chapter we’ve never seen before, the young actress does have a couple favorite things about portraying the character.
“1) She’s mysterious. You don’t quite know what she’s thinking or if she’s even thinking anything. 2) She’s very wise beyond her years. I feel like she’s 14 going on 30. She feels like she knows herself, but she really doesn’t because she’s only 14. She doesn’t trust anybody. I always like playing characters that are opposite from myself because then I get to go in different ways.”
As for where she drew her inspiration, she explains that while she has read the comics, seen the movies, and even the television show with Adam West and loved all the different takes of Catwoman, she wants it to be clear that that’s who she’s not playing. “I’m not playing Catwoman, so I don’t think that it would be right to take anything or everything from the different people [who have played her], so I’m focusing on what I think she is at the moment.”
She tells us instead, she draws inspiration from a specific feline in her life. “For movements [and attitude], I draw my inspiration from my cat, to be honest.”
Gotham premieres Monday, September 22, at 8pm on FOX.