LOS ANGELES: Actor Anne Hathaway says filmmaker Christopher Nolan wanted her to undergo training before shooting "The Dark Knight Rises", so that she was "strong enough" to perform her own stunts in the final film of his "Batman" trilogy.

In an interview for Variety's 'Actors on Actors' issue, Hathaway was in conversation with actor Hugh Jackman during which she talked about playing Selina Kyle/ Catwoman in the 2012 blockbuster.

"Chris sat me down and he said, 'It has nothing to do with your appearance. If we've shot tomorrow, I'd be so happy'," said Hathaway.

The 37-year-old actor said Nolan told her about the hard work actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who also starred in "The Dark Knight Rises", had put in for filming a four-day stunt sequence on the director's 2010 sci-fi film "Inception" and wanted her to do the same.

"'I want you to do as much of the stunt work as you can. I need you to be strong enough to do that. I can't have you be one of those actors that does one take, two takes and then you're too tired. I want you to do everything'," Hathaway recalled Nolan telling her.

"That was what he told me to get me to embrace the physical side of the character and really commit that," she added.

The actor said she loves Nolan's approach towards filmmaking and the way he deals with the talent.

"I'm such a director nerd. I love just seeking out the best directors I can and then just watching them. Chris' whole approach to filmmaking is one of my favourite ones. He's broken it down to its most minimal, but also his movies are just so huge and ornate.

"That combination of really being intentional about what it was that we were doing - and also, he's just so inspiring," Hathaway told Jackman, who has worked with the filmmaker in "The Prestige" (2006).

She later went on to star in Nolan's 2014 sci-fi epic "Interstellar". Nolan's next directorial venture is the espionage thriller "Tenet", scheduled to be released in August.