The world of DC Comics is getting animated once again with Catwoman: Hunted. The story revolves around the titular burglar as she tries to get her hands on a priceless gem held by Black Mask and his group of terrifying villains and is roped into helping Batwoman with bringing them to justice.

In time for the film’s release, Screen Rant spoke exclusively with star Stephanie Beatriz to discuss Catwoman: Hunted, the fan campaign for her to play the hero in The CW show and thoughts on a Brooklyn Nine-Nine reunion.

Screen Rant: I’m excited to talk about Catwoman: Hunted with you because it was quite the blast. What about it really drew you to the project?

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Stephanie Beatriz: I think Catwoman getting to be the center of a story like she is in this was really rad. The animation style I thought was incredible. It was just really fun and I love doing voiceover, it’s one of my favorite things to do and when this came to me, I was really excited to join.

That was actually going to be one of my questions as the past few years, we’ve really seen your voiceover work start to pick up both in film and TV. What is it about that genre and style of production that you find so enticing?

Stephanie Beatriz: I like the limitless of voiceover work, meaning that you really are informed so much by your own imagination doing voiceover work. Obviously you get to see some of what the animators are creating, the designs and the world that you’re going to be joining in, too, but you use your own imagination so much in that process. You’re not on a set, you don’t have a costume, there’s no lighting, and yet you get to fill in everything around you with your own imagination. I just find that really, really fun, it’s the part of storytelling that I love so much is using my imagination.

The DC Comics world is such a vivid one, were you familiar enough with it that it helped fuel your imagination or did you really work with the directors and the script to really hone in on bringing that world to life in your mind?

Stephanie Beatriz: I think having some of the imagery to start as a jumping off point was what I needed, that plus the script is basically all I need to hit the ground running. Then, you know, as an actor, you don’t have the entire picture and scope, you don’t have the map of how it’s all gonna come together. You just trust your director and trust in everyone walking around you.

To me, my map is a script, so what I’m doing is I’m taking what’s in front of me, the pages that are in front of me the stories in front of me, and working to make that character that’s on the page in front of me come to life. Then I’m filling in all the little gaps that maybe aren’t on the page or alluded to on the page with what I know from past iterations of this character and then what I’m bringing to the table, which is why it’s such a cool collaborative process.

Since you mention past iterations, one of the interesting things about Batwoman is that we’ve not seen her on screen too often, leaving each each performer able to bring their own take to the character. What was one of your big things that you wanted to bring to your version of Batwoman?

Stephanie Beatriz: Well, in this script, there’s a lot of badassery and there’s a lot of dry humor. There’s also a vulnerability that I thought was really cool. I think Kate thinks of herself as really tough and strong as Batwoman and yet sometimes Catwoman can pull the rug out from under Batwoman. I think that that is at times exciting for her and also terrifying, and that’s the kind of stuff that I love when you’re surprised by what a character has going on underneath.

So what would you say were some of the creative challenges for you bringing all of those layers to life in the voice booth?

Stephanie Beatriz: I don’t know that there were challenges, it was a really fun process. I can’t remember when we recorded it, but maybe one of the challenges was that I was pregnant and uncomfortable. [Chuckles] I don’t really remember it feeling like a huge challenge. I don’t know that I feel that way necessarily when I’m working, obviously there are challenges like, ‘How can I make this sound just right?’ or ‘How can this moment feel more honest?’ But most of the time when I’m working, I’m having a really good time.

Given that this was filmed so long ago, I had talked to Elizabeth about it as well and she wishes she got to work with you more, did you have that same feeling of wanting to work with more of your co-stars in the booth since you share screen time with quite a few?

Stephanie Beatriz: Yeah, totally, I think that’s such a testament to our directors and producers that when you watch the film, you can feel it’s a palpable and fun dynamic between the two of them. I think, what would be really amazing, if we were lucky enough to do so, is to expand the story. It would be amazing to be in the booth with her, because I think we would have really fun chemistry and back and forth, that would be even more electric.

This does end with with plenty of room for the future, so now that you’re in the world, are you hoping to come back for more as Batwoman?

Stephanie Beatriz: I’d be honored. I absolutely would be honored, it was really fun.

It’s interesting, because I don’t know if you were aware of it a couple of years ago, but when they were looking for a new Batwoman for The CW show, there were a lot of fans campaigning for you to take on that role. Were you aware of all that when that was going on?

Stephanie Beatriz: Yeah, I thought that was so sweet. It’s really lovely, it’s nice to be thought of, period. It’s super nice to think that people would think that I could take on that kind of role. But I also think the casting of the series, and the subsequent new cast is incredible. I think it was done just right, they picked the perfect person to come in and take that mantle.

I agree, Javicia has been phenomenal so far.

Stephanie Beatriz: Phenomenal. She’s phenomenal, that’s a great way to say it.

Looking back on that, now that you are Batwoman in another medium, what is that like for you having that full-circle journey of fans campaigning and now getting it?

Stephanie Beatriz: It’s really cool, I think everything sort of worked out lovely. It’s always nice to be thought of for anything, especially things like iconic roles and DC characters, that’s a big deal. So to be playing in an animated movie is very cool, and I think that that’s the great thing about these characters and these universes, right? There’s so many iterations of them, there’s so many ways that they can live and will live beyond what I do, what Javicia does, there’ll be another life for these characters. That’s part of what’s so amazing and iconic about them.

I couldn’t agree more. Speaking of all these different universes, looking at Marvel, I know that in the past you had expressed interest in playing America Chavez. We’re getting Xochitl Gomez for her for Doctor Strange 2, but is there anybody else in the Marvel world that you would love to bring to life, whether in animation or live action?

Stephanie Beatriz: I remain open to any and all possibilities of playing any kind of hero or villain in any of these worlds. I think it would be a treat. So fun, so challenging. I think that that’s the most fun thing about being an actor is sometimes you don’t even know what might fall into your lap. I never could have imagined that I would play a role like Rosa Diaz for so long, she’s so very different than I am. I think sometimes, I think I can become limited by my own imagination as to what kinds of things I can play, so in that way, I would never sort of pinpoint one or two characters, because I want to stay open to the possibility of playing any of them.

Sure, I can totally appreciate that. For my final question, since you do bring up Rosa, Brooklyn Nine-Nine is now at a close, but a lot of people are still hoping to come back for more. I know Terry’s been talking recently about possibly doing a movie in the future and that he wouldn’t be surprised if it happens, have you thought about that at all, coming back for a short thing, movie or otherwise?

Stephanie Beatriz: It’s so sweet to think about reuniting with all those people. I love that cast and crew so much, we had such an amazing time shooting the series finale. It’s crazy, because it’s wrapped and done and it’s aired in the US, but it hasn’t aired in the UK yet. So I’ve had fans say, “We’re so excited for the eighth season,” I sort of forget like, “Right, some of the world hasn’t even seen it yet.”

In that way, it still hasn’t completely come to a close, I don’t think it’ll ever feel like it’s over over for me because the experience was, from start to finish, absolutely incredible. I made friends for life on that series and I grew and learned so much about myself. I would 100 percent love to visit those characters in that world again. Do I know if that’s gonna happen? No. But I love those people so much. You just never know, right? You just never ever know.

Catwoman: Hunted is now on shelves on 4K Ultra-HD, Blu-ray and on digital platforms.

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About The Author


Grant Hermanns
(1573 Articles Published)

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Grant Hermanns is a News Writer, Interviewer and Hiring Manager for Screen Rant, having joined the team in early 2021. Way back in 2015 while still in his college days, Grant got his start in the entertainment journalism industry with creator-friendly site Moviepilot until it shuttered nearly three years later. From there he joined the staff at ComingSoon.net and was its Associate Editor prior to coming over to Screen Rant.

To say he’s a lover of film and television would be an understatement and when he’s not mass consuming either you can find him exploring the world of Dungeons & Dragons with friends or slowly making his way through his gaming backlog.

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