The Dark Knight Rises: Female Casting Rumors

It was recently confirmed by Christopher Nolan that The Dark Knight Rises (Batman 3) would be casting a female lead.  However, Ethan Anderton over at FirstShowing.net has heard a rumor involving three different ladies and two female roles.  Charlize Theron (The Burning Plain, among other things) is rumored to be in consideration for one role, while Vera Farminga (The Departed, Up in the Air) and Kacie Thomas (The Burning Plain) are rumored for the other role. 

The role Charlize Theron is rumored as being considered for is Detective Sarah Essen, who apparently has an affair with Jim Gordon in the comics.  This seems a little strange given Gordon's character appears to be happily married with kids and Theron is a good deal younger than Gordon.  Not only that, but wouldn't a Theron-centered affair involving a married Jim Gordon, whose family played such importance at the end of TDK, be a little distracting and plot heavy?  I just don't see it.  If Sarah Essens is indeed a character in TDKR, I doubt she has an affair with Gordon.  She'll probably have a different role than she did in the comics.   

Meanwhile, Farminga and Thomas are being eyed to play Julie Madison, a Gotham socialite who was Wayne's first love, and later fiance, in the comics.  That's about all we know about the character, other than she never knew Wayne was Batman. 

Granted, FirstShowing.net couched this all as pure rumor.  FirstShowing.net is also the movie blog that posted The Riddler was seen as a villian on a casting grid with Joseph Gordon-Levitt's name underneath it.  That was total bull.  So take this news with a grain of salt.

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of Theron.  Sure, she'd probably make a decent detective, or maybe even a good Selena Kyle (Catwoman), but I think most of her performances are a bit over the top.  I also think it weird that both Theron and the lesser-known Thomas (I can't even find a pic of her that I can post here that IMDB.com won't later disallow) were both in The Burning Plain.  Sounds to me like the rumors may have originated involving an actress from The Burning Plain and it may have eventually expanded to both Theron and Thomas.  I don't know.  But that is pretty coincidental.  I could actually see Farminga playing a love interest for Wayne in a Nolan movie.  She has a little bit of the Maggie Gyllenhaal in her - a different sort of beauty, and a very strong presence.  We shall have to wait and see what unfolds.  Before hearing this news, however, if you had told me there were to be two new female leads in TDKR, I would have been almost positive one of them was Catwoman.