What did you think when you first saw yourself in the Batsuit?
I was standing on the back lot where they were creating the suit, and I had a few minutes to myself, staring up close in the mirror, just thinking, "This isn't going to work. I'm claustrophobic, I can't breathe, I'm getting a headache already, and this is all going to go very badly."
I was standing on the back lot where they were creating the suit, and I had a few minutes to myself, staring up close in the mirror, just thinking, "This isn't going to work. I'm claustrophobic, I can't breathe, I'm getting a headache already, and this is all going to go very badly."
What persuaded you otherwise?
I just said to myself, "Breathe deeply for a few minutes. Try this out. Don't run around yelling and making an ass of yourself trying to pull the whole thing off." I wasn't going to get it off by myself. It takes three people. I just had flashes of what an asshole I would feel like saying "Well, I wasn't able to play that character, because I panicked every time I got in the suit."
You've played a wide variety of characters, but very few of them have been happy-go-lucky. Are you attracted to darkness?
Certainly I have no attraction to misery. I don't intentionally go for dark. The only thing I would unequivocally say is that I have never had any interest in romantic comedy—I just couldn't do it. I think I'd be terrible. And I think it's an oxymoron, anyway. I've never found any of them funny.
Michael Caine has talked about the intensity of Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker in The Dark Knight. How did you find working with him?
He was incredibly intense in his performance but incredibly mellow and laid-back. Certainly there was this great anarchistic streak to it—just getting dirtier than anybody's envisioned the Joker before. This character has power because he has no limits—absolutely nothing to lose.
How has Ledger's death changed the way you look at the film?
Naturally it was something I wanted to share with him—and expected to do so. And I can't do anything else but hope that it will be an absolutely appropriate celebration of his work. For the whole interview, head to the source link below.
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