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‘I’m OK with not getting it right every time’: Zoë Kravitz on growing up famous and getting her claws into Batman
Zoë Kravitz was born with a name to live up to. But as an actor, director and performer she has made it her own. She talks about fame, the perils of cancel culture and embracing her inner cat
Zoë Kravitz is show-business royalty, the daughter of actor Lisa Bonet and musician Lenny Kravitz. I expected her to be candid – throughout her career she’s been outspoken: on race and Hollywood, on body image and politics. In 2017, she starred in a British Vogue video in which she yelled, while sharing odd items she keeps in her handbag, “Fuck Trump!” And when we meet one evening via Zoom – me in London, her in LA – she doesn’t disappoint. Here she is, easygoing and thoughtful in conversation, an A-lister speaking her mind rather than the asinine niceties offered by more careful celebrities. “I’m just a fucking nerd,” she says at one point, though only half-convincingly. “A weirdo!” She’s bundled up in a hoodie and beanie hat, makeup free apart from a delicate cat-eye flick of eyeliner, which feels appropriate.
We’re meeting to discuss The Batman, her new film, in which she stars as Selena Kyle, otherwise known as Catwoman, opposite Robert Pattinson. The Batman is made by the American director Matt Reeves, who has described Kravitz as “smart, funny, honest, unpretentious”, and “a great creative partner”. To get into character, Kravitz watched videos of big cats and gradually adopted their physical attributes. “It was fun to play with different ways of walking, of being agile,” she says. “You know, you can’t read cats, which is why a lot of people feel uncomfortable around them.” Kravitz conceptualised Kyle as someone who is “tough, a street-smart person. Her life has been really difficult and she’s figured out a way to survive this far and take care of herself, and she really cares about other people in similar situations.”
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