You think you know everything about Marion Cotillard's character in "The Dark Knight Rises"? To riff on a familiar phrase around these parts, you have no idea — maybe, that is.
MTV News caught up with the Oscar winning actress at the New York City premiere of her new movie "Contagion" last night, and we had to ask her about her work on Christopher Nolan's latest Batman movie. Some potential spoilers lie ahead, so proceed with caution…
If you've been following "The Dark Knight Rises" even somewhat closely, you've probably heard the rumors by now that Cotillard's supposed character — a Wayne Enterprises board member named Miranda Tate — is just a cover for her real identity, Talia al Ghul, daughter of the late League of Assassins leader Ra's. Miranda does not appear in the comic books, but Talia is very much tied into the Caped Crusader's paneled history… which makes it very interesting that Cotillard says the character she plays does not have comic book roots.
"Well, actually, it was not based off of a character in the comic," she told us when we asked if she took cues for her character from the Batman comics. When we asked if she was telling us the truth, she answered with a smile: "Yes, I am."
And if we talk to her in a year from now, will we be able to say she was lying to us?
"No," she said emphatically. "No!"
So, there you have it: according to Cotillard herself, her character is not from the comic books. If she's being 100% truthful, does that mean that she's not playing Talia as so many of us (myself included) suspect? Or is she playing coy, doing her best to preserve Nolan's secrets?
Regardless of her true identity, Cotillard had nothing but fantastic things to say about working with the "Dark Knight Rises" team: "It's amazing to work on Christopher Nolan's set. I'm so happy that I'm working with him again. I could do tons of movies with him. It's a huge project, but at the same time, it's like a family crew. He's worked with them for such a long time, so you really feel like you're on a family set."
What do you make of Cotillard's description? Tell us what you think in the comments section and on Twitter!