Batman & Robin Stars Recall Baffling Filming Experience

There are people out there who love Joel Schumacher’s 1997 DC effort Batman & Robin, but even they will tell you that its road to the screen must have been paved with some absolutely baffling decisions. Almost 30 years later, the movie’s cast is still revisiting some of them.

In a recent interview with EW, Batman & Robin stars Alicia Silverstone and Chris O’Donnell spent some time chatting about the film’s bewildering on-set chaos and the painful reality of seeing it flop with audiences.

Silverstone, who played Batgirl opposite George Clooney’s Batman and O’Donnell’s Robin, says a lot of things on the shoot just “didn’t make sense.” She recalls being in massive warehouse sets teeming with extras and stunts, often uncertain of what was being asked of her. “I remember we finally got the things on and we’re standing there on top of this platform… I turned to Chris and George and I said, ‘What do we do?’ And they’re like, ‘Don’t worry, you’ll figure it out.’ I was like, ‘What do you mean?’… Then I hear over a big bullhorn, ‘Throw the thing!’… It’s like, ‘What do you mean? We don’t even know what we’re throwing!’” 

O’Donnell, meanwhile, recalled how pressure mounted during the movie’s promotional campaign as negative reviews began pouring in. “All of a sudden, you were starting to get the feedback, and you realize it was just going sideways,” he said. “There was so much hatred of the film when it came out. It was like, ‘Oh my God.’… I remember at one point, Joel Schumacher just threw up the flag. He’s like, ‘I’m out. I can’t do it anymore.’ He was so heartbroken and kind of bummed out about it.” 

Despite the stress of making the DC movie and its poor reception, its stars do seem fairly relaxed about it all now. O’Donnell admitted, “It was a tough one for us to all to digest,” but added, “We were lucky to be in the movie, and it was fun to be a part of it. It is what it is. Some work out and some don’t.” 

The film that put nipples on the Bat costume also inevitably became known as a camp classic. “When it came out, I don’t think people liked it very much,” Silverstone says. “But later on people told me it’s their favorite movie… It’s very camp.”