As The Joker blew up the only female lead in The Dark Knight Warner Bros. and Christopher Nolan are currently on the hunt for actresses to fill two roles in The Dark Knight Rises. One is said to be a villain, and the other a love interest.

Today new details have emerged on which actresses will be testing for the roles in the upcoming weeks, and speculation as to who they will play.

From Heat Vision:

Keira Knightley, Anne Hathaway and Jessica Biel are due to test for roles in the Warner Bros. superhero tentpole in the next two weeks. Also testing are relative newcomers Kate Mara and Charlotte Riley. Hot British actress Gemma Arterton has also scheduled to test but, Arterton just landed the female lead in Paramount’s Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters and might now have scheduling issues.

Dark Knight Rises needs to fill two big female roles, a villain and a love interest. Sources say one character is Talia, the daughter of villain Ra’s Al Ghul, who was portrayed by Liam Neeson in Nolan’s first Gotham-set crime pic Batman Begins. In the comic books, Talia is both Batman’s lover and antagonist, ultimately siring his alter ego Bruce Wayne’s son.

Knightley, Hathaway and Biel are familiar to most, however the names people might not be aware of are Kate Mara and Charlotte Riley. Mara recently appeared in 127 Hours and is the sister of Rooney Mara (currently shooting David Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), and Riley is engaged to Tom Hardy, who co-starred in Nolan’s Inception and will play a currently unknown role in The Dark Knight Rises (i’m sure he’ll have a great honeymoon if he gets her a role in one of the most anticipated movies of 2012).

We will probably hear more casting news over the upcoming weeks as the movie gears up for a May shoot. Which actress would you like to appear in The Dark Knight Rises? Do you like the idea of Ra’s Al Ghul’s daughter possibly coming back for revenge?

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Last week we heard that Emily Blunt had turned down an offer from Marvel to play the role of Peggy, Steve Rogers’ love interest, in The First Avenger: Captain America. Now comes word from E! that Keira Knightley has done the same, so Sex and the City 2 actress Alice Eve is now likely to bag the role.

I’ve wanted Alice Eve, who is the least well known out of the actresses, to land the role ever since there was talk she was up for the part. Blunt and Knightley were probably only in the running because they are the first actresses you think of when someone says ‘young British actress’. The two don’t really need the role either, and it would be more suited to Eve.

It’s not hers just yet, however:

Also up for the Peggy Carter part is fellow Brit Hayley Atwell, 28. I’m told both actresses are screen-testing for the second time for the coveted role tomorrow in London.

I guess we’ll hear who lands the part over the next week or so. So far the cast for The First Avenger: Captain America consists of Hugo Weaving as Red Skull, Chris Evans as the main guy, and Sebastian Stan as sidekick Bucky. The Wolfman director Joe Johnston will be directing and is currently prepping for a June start in London.

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According to The L.A Times British actress and recent Golden Globe nominee Emily Blunt has been offered the role of Peggy, Steve Rogers’ love interest, in The First Avenger: Captain America. But she may turn it down.

Marvel wanted Blunt for Black Widow in Iron Man 2 but 20th Century Fox still had her under contract to make another film with them from when she signed for The Devil Wears Prada. As a result Blunt had to pull out and was replaced by Scarlett Johansson in the role.

The L.A Times say that Blunt is close to signing on to other projects and will turn down Marvel’s offer. I’m not sure how they know that, but they speculate that she may be interested in other roles that are potentially more rewarding as an actress than simply playing someone’s girlfriend in a big superhero blockbuster. After all, in these types of films all the focus is on the hero and the lead female is usually played by a young actress who looks good on posters, but she is really only there to be ‘the love interest’. There are a few exceptions, but in most cases the characters are pretty one-dimensional.

If Blunt turns down Captain America then that will leave Kiera Knightly and newcomer Alice Eve (who will be seen in Sex and the City 2). There may be other actresses in the running also, but those are the ones that have been reported. Both are British, as is Blunt, so Marvel are obviously looking for an English lady to cling to the arm of Chris Evans.

Whoever lands the role will be joining Hugo Weaving, Evans, and Sebastian Stan, along with director Joe Johnston.

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In a shocking and unpredicted move, Keira Knightley has signed up to star in a movie set in the 21st Century. No pirates, no period clothing, no old fashioned wigs…just cars, hit and runs, the internet and other stuff we have nowadays. The movie is called Last Night and the cast includes Eva Mendes (The Spirit), Sam Worthington (Terminator Salvation, Avatar) and Guillaume Canet (He’s french).

From Variety:

Story follows a married couple, apart for a night while the husband takes a business trip with a colleague to whom he’s attracted. While he’s resisting temptation, his wife encounters her past love.

The film will be the directing debut of Massy Tadjedin, who wrote the script and has also been writing an untitled project for Steven Spielberg.

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Kiera Knightly is at it again! She stars opposite Sienna Miller, Cillian Murphy and Matthew Rhys in a tale of lust, love, betrayal and revenge. Could this possibly be another Atonement, as one reviewer suggests? Here’s the synopsis:

Two feisty, free-spirited women are connected by the brilliant, charismatic poet who loves them both. The passion and pathos of legendary poet Dylan Thomas is told through the lives of two extraordinary women. Vera Phillips and Dylan were teenage loves; fast forward ten years and the two reconnect in London. She’s working as a singer whilst he’s churning out scripts for government propaganda films and living off the last in a long line of infatuated women. The two former lovers feel the thunderbolt once more, but Thomas is now married to the adventurous Caitlin. Despite their love-rival status, the women form a surprising friendship. Caitlin indulges in her own infidelities, and recognises a similar adventurous spirit in her husband. But she knows his connection with Vera is something different, not to mention dangerous.

Sounds interesting, but no Atonement. We’ll just have to see! Expect to see the The Edge of Love in theaters starting on June 18…

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