Jonathan Heaf
Lets begin with why were here: The Dark Knight- the second instalment or the reinvigorated Batman franchise.
That can you tell me about it?
This time around, Chris and I were allowed to spread our creative wings a little more.
Before we were involved, the Batman franchise had gone to pot- everyone knows that.
And to be honest, when we took it on, it was a big gamble; an awful lot of people thought it was destined for failure.
This time around, as BB was such a success, the studio wasnt so cautious about what we were doing with its money.
There was much more faith in me, in Chris and in the direction he was taking the film.
A marked contrast between BB and the previous Batman films was your focus on BWs past and on humanising the man behind the mask. As the story of Waynes evolution from frightened boy into fearless crime fighter- has already been told did you find it hard to bring a similar depth to the role this time around?
In the early Batman films, even the Burton movies, there was always the moment when, as BW came into shot, the audience would groan.
The perception was that without his mask Batman was bloody boring, so we had to develop him into something more engaging.
With BB thats just what we did and, at the end of the movie, we see someone who has achieved what he set out to achieve.
In TDK, BWs naivety comes to the fore.
For some reason, he thought all this crime-fighting would be a finite endeavour; he thought once he had cleaned up the city of criminals he would be able to hang up his suit and go back to a relatively normal life.
In this film he realises there are consequences to his actions, things have changed because of him and he has more responsibility than he presumed.
He cant hang up his cape and walk away.
Everything evolves- even crime.
Heath Ledger stars as Bats nemesis, The Joker.
In January this year the 28 year old actor tragically overdosed on a cocktail of prescription pills- his death a terrible accident.
What was he like to work with on the film?
Wonderful.
He was a fantastic guy; we had a lot of fun on set.
Yes, he immersed himself into the film completely, but, at the same time, he was so easy going.
Heath was infectious; his death makes me angry because I know our friendship would have blossomed had he not died.
Hes done a real defining characterisation of The Joker that both audiences and the industry will no doubt praise and then acknowledge in time.
Were you ever worried about Ledgers state of mind, or the effect playing such a psychotic character might have on an actor so committed to his craft?
Heath would have done whatever he felt necessary for the role.
He was someone who took his work incredibly seriously.
And thats what Chris and I were aiming for with these movies: to see through the comic books and cartoons and make the characters real and terrifying and twisted and human.
With the first film critics were like, What? Take Batman seriously? Are you kidding?- It was laughable to many, but thats precisely the road we wanted to take.
Heath is on board with that philosophy completely
I keep catching myself talking about him in the present tense, which is very upsetting.
I was obviously with him at that time, but I can only speak for myself.
Yes, sometimes I look back and think, OK, maybe I went a little bit too far, committed a little bit too much of myself.
But I dont regret doing it.
But I dont want to talk for Heath: this is a conversation Id be having with friends and family, and is far too personal to talking about in relation to the release of a movie.
Its just no my place.
Was there any worry after Ledgers death, the movie would have to be altered or changed?
Not as far as I know.
Listen, its not up to me- thats Chris job- but I personally dont believe that in anyway.
I believe you should respect somebodys work- dont change it.
This is his art- if you want to call it that.
And it would be disrespectful to go and deal with what was captured on film in a different way than had Heath been alive.
But as I say, this is out of my hands.
Chris is a very private director and theres certainly no way hed be letting me into the editing suite.
I tried once; I got a very polite, **** off.
Obviously the Bat gadgets and firepower are vital components to any Batman blockbuster.
Did you get to lark about on anything spectacularly dangerous?
Well, theres the Bat Pod- essentially a steam roller combined with a superbike combines with an atomic missile.
Embarrassingly, I didnt get to ride it.
There are other motorbikes in the film that I got to burn about on, but not the Pod- it was deemed too dangerous; they needed it in one piece to finish the damn movie.
Well, thats my excuse.
In fact the guy who did ride it in the film, Jean-Pierre Goy, was the only guy, out of dozens of bike champs and stunt men on set, who could actually stay on the damn thing for any length of time.
Everything he learnt about riding a motorbike he said he had to unlearn to ride the Pod.
Ive asked the producers if I can have a go on it before the premiere, so that I can really ride it before I get asked anymore of these questions- you cant be Batman and not have been on the bloody bike.
Did you get to risk your neck in other ways?
Thankfully, yes.
We were shooting in Chicago one day and I overheard a couple of stunt guys talking about a shot that needed to be set up, with Batman hanging off the edge of the Sears Tower.
They wanted a stunt guy to do it but I was like, What? No, no, no. I am doing that.
I had to wrestle abit with the producers but eventually I twisted their arms.
A few days later I was standing 110 storeys up, looking out over Chicago, on the edge of one of the tallest towers in the world, with a helicopter about two inches away from my bloody face.
Did I have a safety rope?
Yeah, just dont tell anyone.
But it was a thrill; it got the heart going- especially when the wind picked up and I was leaning over the edge.
I mean you cant play a superhero and not enjoy it, right?
This is the third feature with Nolan in three years.
Presumably this love tie-in isnt just happy serendipity?
No, but I completely understand if hes a little bit sick of the sight of me and if he wants to go and bounce off someone else for a movie or two.
I mean, I would never presume or take our working relationship for granted.
But I have to say, once youve been doing this sort of thing for a while, its nice to finally be able to establish professional friendships where you can return, again and again.
Basically you just cut out all the polite ******** and you dont have to bother walking around each other on eggshells for the first two weeks of shooting.
I would certainly hope he would be on board for a third instalement.
If he wasnt, id have to think long and hard about whether I would want to continue myself.
How do you prepare for a role?
Do you have particular rituals?
I never enjoy breaking down my methodology.
Sometimes it starts with a voice or an accent, but not always.
The differences between a Werner Herzog shoot, a Terrence Malick shoot and a Nolan shoot are vast, and so ive never had just one method that has worked for me consistently. I start from scratch with each movie; I wipe the slate and I certainly dont rely on a bag of actors tricks ive amassed over the years.
Sometimes you get directors who love the rigorous research, while others simply say to you, Hey, youll be fine, just turn up on set and wing it.
Sometimes you dont need to toil over the minutiae.
On preparing for his role, Heath kept scrapbooks, notebooks, drawings and artwork.
Is this a technique youve employed in the past?
It differs from role to role.
Im currently working with Michael Mann on a film called Public Enemies.
Johnny Depp plays John Dillinger, I play Melvin Purvis.
I have huge files on the subject, transcripts of interviews, books and biographies.
Whats important is to know how to digest this information- thats the key.
Its all very well doing the research but if you cant react to it instructively, your performance will suffer.
But you do what ever is necessary.
Heath played Dylan, as I did, in Im Not There, and we all kept scrapbooks; Todd Hayes encouraged this.
Of course, everyone has a life outside of work.
Sometimes all these aids do is to help you click back into character more quickly.
