The role of Batman has been played by many since it first hit the silver screen in 1989. Say what you will about the voice, but after Chrsitan Bale's performance as the vigilante of late, it's hard to see any one else but Bale play the Batman, and quite easy to ignore past Bat-actors like Clooney and Kilmer. But Bale initially had some fears about playing the brooding Bat (but that's forgivable, even the crime fighter himself had some embarrassing moments).
"I felt like they should recast. I really did because it was so claustrophobic that I didn't feel like I could breathe. I felt they've made a mistake and I can't do this," he told Access Hollywood at the film's LA junket this weekend. Thankfully, he was eventually able to overcome his fear. "I took some time and breathed deeply and asked to be left alone for 15, 20 minutes and just sat with it and eventually got used to it," he recalled, explaining that with each film, the suit design has been improved upon.
I guess I've underestimated how lucky I am to be able to turn my head when I'm in my own rubber suit.
Batman is set to go head to head against Bane, the first villain that's a match to Batman both physically and mentally. Tom Hardy, the actor behind the behemoth Bane, said on his character, "Bane is a terrorist in both his mentality and his actions...He is physically intimidating and he's also very intelligent, which makes him even more dangerous."
Joining new character Bane to the Nolan-verse is Anne Hathaway's Catwoman, a character Nolan initially doubted bringing into his Bat-trilogy.
He told Empire, "Catwoman is a very iconic figure in the Batman pantheon. I was nervous about how she would fit into our world. But [my brother Jonathan] was very much convinced that there would be a way to do it and eventually turned me around."
Bale was quite impressed with Hathaway's performance, recently telling Access, "She did a wonderful job. She really trained so hard for it. She managed to find a place for herself where she could make this version of Catwoman work within Chris Nolan's world of Batman...I remember when she first read for it, I turned to Chris and I said,' I think that's what you're looking,'... I could see that through the costume a Catwoman. She was able to overcome that and still show the character... she was superb."
"The Dark Knight Rises" debuts on July 20, and you can get ready for it with this 13 minute featurette.
