Maggie Gyllenhaal Pinch Hits For Overbooked Katie Holmes In 'Dark Knight'
As Katie Holmes gets set to star opposite Queen Latifah in Mad Money—the all-gal, low-budget buddy comedy that promises to do for her career what Taxi did for Jimmy Fallon's—comes the announcement that Maggie Gyllenhaal will be taking over as The Dark Knight's D.A. Rachel Dawes, the role Holmes originated in Batman Begins:
Gyllenhaal is being tapped to play D.A. Rachel Dawes, the love interest to Bruce Wayne/Batman (Christian Bale). In the first movie, Dawes was played Katie Holmes, who, like Gyllenhaal, is repped by CAA. But reps for Holmes said she was unable to reprise her role because of scheduling conflicts. [...]
"I'm extremely excited to work with an actress of Maggie's caliber, and she's a great addition to the cast as we continue our story," Nolan said.
As they have maintained since the beginning, Team Holmes is still clinging admirably to their "scheduling conflicts" story as the sole reason Holmes wouldn't reprise her highest-profile role to date, though we suspect the conflicts in question are of a different variety: Say, the kind that arise when a proven director, who has managed to reinvigorate a faltering studio franchise with massive profit potential, decides he might be able to work more efficiently by hiring an ingenue who comes fully equipped with an emotional range, and minus any lingering stage-spouses constantly reminding them to "speak from your diaphragm, Kate...and try to keep your mouth closed when you kiss Christian, just like you do with me!"
