SCREENPLAY-ING FOR TIME

The casting of Maggie Gyllenhaal in the new 'Batman' film caused quite a few eyebrows to shoot up. It was clear that Katie Holmes would have other commitments and be unable to make the shoot (what with studying for her golden belt in Scientology and having the part of her brain that retained earth memory erased), hence the need for a new Rachel Dawes in 'The Dark Knight'.

Director Christopher Nolan was adamant that Gyllenhaal was the woman for the role, but to be fair he did cast her before she disastrously became the oddly-shaped face of Agent Provocateur in one of the most misguided ad campaigns of recent times.

He's a fine director and must know what he's doing, so let's hope his faith in Gyllenhaal is well-placed. Not that he trusted her totally at the start, and especially with the film script. The actress commented:

"Chris asked me if I wanted to read the script, which was a big deal. And someone had to come and wait in my driveway, while I read this huge script. I was mommying, so it took me 20 full hours to get through it, and this guy was sitting in my driveway."

Thank god he didn't offer the role to Lindsay Lohan. That poor bloke would still be sitting in her driveway now as she flicked over to page seven and began tracing the words with her finger and speaking them aloud...very...slowly.