A look inside Hollywood and the movies. : TOO HOLLYWOOD TO BE BELIEVED : OK, OK, We <i> Know</i> You’ve Heard All the Catwoman Tales, But Here’s THE Twist

Hours after the announcement that Annette Bening’s pregnancy would force her to withdraw from the new “Batman” sequel, agent Ed Limato received a call from Warner Bros.’ production chief Mark Canton asking whether two of his clients--Ellen Barkin and Michelle Pfeiffer--would be interested in filling her shoes in the role of Catwoman. Top contenders also included other clients represented by ICM: Anjelica Huston, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Lena Olin.

It’s a situation, on the face of it, ripe for conflict of interest. When a movie project comes in, to which actor or director does an agent direct it? Should clients down on their luck be given a slightly harder push? If one client up for a part commands less money, should the asking price of another be lowered to better the chances of landing the job?

Pfeiffer, despite the highest asking price of the bunch, ultimately snagged the role. Then, when she withdrew from Mike Figgis’ “Mr. Jones”--the story of a psychiatrist who falls in love with her manic-depressive patient (Richard Gere)--Barkin, Olin and Huston were again engaged in intra-agency competition for that part.

“In this era of two agencies controlling a great deal of the talent, more and more, they’re going to be competing with themselves,” notes one top studio executive. “CAA has lots of actors that want the same parts. The same with ICM. There’s no getting around it.”

Each of the giants, however, is overcrowded in different areas. ICM counts a horde of younger actresses among its clients, each of whom is in search of that all-too-rare commodity in Hollywood: a substantive female role. Julia Roberts’ arrival last winter may have been responsible for the recent departure of Daryl Hannah and Holly Hunter to CAA and certainly wasn’t good news for ICM clients Meg Ryan and Jodie Foster. For its part, CAA is top-heavy in the middle-aged male department (Pacino, De Niro, Hoffman, Douglas) as well as in women over 40 (Close, Streep, Cher, Streisand, Lange, Field).

Agency insiders insist that they’re merely middlemen, that their power is greatly exaggerated. “The agent is a conduit, the person who ensures that the client and director hook up--not the one who makes the decisions,” says one. “No director in history ever asked an agent who they want him to hire. I only wish that were the case.

“In the end, it doesn’t matter how many similar clients you have since not all are available for the same part at the same time,” he continues. “You just need enough personnel to give them all the attention they deserve. The only gray area I can detect: when one of our writer-clients comes out with a book and four of our directors are interested. Deciding which of them to give the material can be a problem, but even then it’s generally the writer’s choice.”

A rival agent also parries any conflict-of-interest charges. “No matter what agency an actor is signed with, the competition will be the same,” he maintains. “In fact, a concentration of talent at one agency can actually be beneficial. Lots of scripts may come in for a given star and he or she can’t do them all. That increases the pool of material for others who are also suited for the part.

“Those who leave an agency because of the competition are paranoid and not particularly bright,” he concludes. “The preponderance of older actresses at CAA didn’t stop Meryl Streep from heading there. And you don’t see Streisand leaving the agency . . . she’s doing just fine.”

Nevertheless, according to some sources, Barkin (who just wrapped Bob Rafelson’s “Man Trouble” with Jack Nicholson) was miffed at losing out to a fellow Limato client. It’s an accusation that another, close to the agency, refutes. “Barkin didn’t audition. When she met with the director, she hadn’t even read the script. She was interested in Catwoman, but it’s not the end of the world.”