The One Movie Michelle Pfeiffer Hated Doing

For nearly five years, Michelle Pfeiffer disappeared from Hollywood. She didn't exactly plan to take a break, but as it became more challenging to film around her children's schedules, the actress became "unhireable" as she told Interview magazine. "It became more challenging for people to hire me, because it was too complicated," Pfeiffer also previously explained to Town & Country. "It was easier to get somebody else to do the part."

After her kids had left home, Pfeiffer made her return to the big screen in 2017. During her impromptu break, the movie star hadn't lost her appetite for performing. "I feel really at home on the movie set," she told Interview magazine. "I'm a more balanced person honestly when I'm working." While Pfeiffer reentered the industry with enthusiasm, the break also gave her the opportunity to reflect on past roles — the good and the bad. And yes, that includes the flop-turned cult classic that is "Grease 2".

Despite telling The New Yorker that she chose her roles carefully at the start of her career, "Grease 2" was one she regrets. "I hated that film with a vengeance and could not believe how bad it was," Michelle Pfeiffer told Hollywood.com. "At the time, I was young and didn't know better," she added. "I hear it's a cult movie now." She's right. While it flopped big time at the time of release — it premiered alongside "E.T.," "Star Trek II," "Rocky III," and "Poltergeist" — it's since become a cult classic (via BBC Culture).

Pfieffer's role in "Grease 2" also happened at a point in her career where she was considered nothing more than "arm candy." But once she was cast in Jonathan Demme's "Married to the Mob," she officially made the move of choosing roles "that had nothing to do with how [she] looked." After that film, the perception of her as an actress changed. She was considered for roles like Martin Scorsese's "The Age of Innocence" in 1994. "I remember him saying, 'I thought you were this brunette girl from New Jersey,'" Pfieffer told The New Yorker. "That was probably one of the greatest compliments that were ever given to me."

The actress may not be too fond of her work most of the time — Michelle Pfeiffer doesn't like to watch her films, as she told Town & Country — there is one role that she'll happily talk about. Unsurprisingly, it's her turn as Catwoman in Tim Burton's classic "Batman Returns." 

Having grown up with the superhero being an icon of hers, Pfieffer was the perfect casting choice for Catwoman. "She was both bad and good, and little girls are brought up to be good," she told film journalist Dominic Wells. And as for the leather-bound catsuit, Pfieffer described it as "metaphorical" rather than rooted in S&M undertones. "When Selina Kyle turns herself into Catwoman, it's a statement about women coming into their own power, which is a strong thing in our society," she explained. "If you look at how the comics have changed over the decades, you'll see Catwoman represents the women of that era."

For today's filmgoers, the most recent interactions of the feline superhero are Zoë Kravitz and Anne Hathaway. For Pfieffer, they were Julie Newmar, Lee Meriweather, and Eartha Kitt (via Den of Geek). "In the '50s she is voluptuous and kittenish. A more dominant character starts to evolve around the '70s, and she becomes more muscular and streamlined," the actress explained. Calling her version of Catwoman "a reflection of what's happening today," the same could be said for every iteration of the character.