Courtney Love was set for Harley Quinn role in Batman Unchained

14 November 2016

Courtney Love was set to play Harley Quinn in the cancelled Joel Schumacher film 'Batman Unchained'.

Courtney Love

The Hole rocker was to bring to life the DC Comics supervillain for the first in film almost two decades before Margot Robbie portrayed the character in 2016's 'Suicide Squad' in the planned 'Batman & Robin' sequel which would have seen the Dynamic Duo battle Scarecrow - due to have been brought to life by Nicolas Cage - and Harley.

However, following the staggering critical mauling of the movie - which saw George Clooney as Batman, Chris O'Donnell as Robin and Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl - Warner Bros. Pictures canned the follow-up denying Courtney the chance to suit up.

In an interview with website Refinery29, she revealed: "Back in the day, when Joel Schumacher was doing Batman, I was going to do Harley Quinn. That would have been really cool. And then, somehow, the franchise went to Christopher Nolan. And I'm too old now. The clothes were cool, and the look was cool, and playing a bad guy on that level in a cartoon movie was cool. I've told my agency, 'I want a supervillain or a superhero role, dammit!' "

In the wake of the 2007 flop, Warner Bros. Pictures kept the Batman franchise on the shelf until Nolan revived the character on the big screen in 2005 with 'Batman Begins' which was the start of 'The Dark Knight' trilogy with Christian Bale as The Caped Crusader.

Courtney has had a successful acting career over the years with acclaimed roles in movies such as 'The People vs. Larry Flynt' and 'Man on the Moon'.

The 52-year-old star - the widow of Nirvana rocker Kurt Cobain - has often played girlfriend roles but her latest film, in which she stars with James Franco, is a departure for her.

She explained: "I remember Warren Beatty mentoring me and saying, 'You've gotta play girlfriends.' Because you do. That's part of the deal ... I just did a movie with James Franco where I played the brothel madam, but also his wife. It's insanely sexual. My daughter [Frances Bean Cobain] was like, 'Mommy, if you're going to do an indie porn, do it with James Franco.' It's called 'The Long Home', and it takes place in the '20s in Tennessee.

"I'm also about to do a TV show, and they're making me a wig. But it's a pilot, and so the wig's not going to be the $75,000 wig that I'm used to for a big studio gig. It's going to be a $5,000 wig - if that - from a TV department. So I'm worried about the wig."