Christian Bale gushes about the new Batman movie
Cover Media – 16 hours ago
Coming back for his final sequel in Batman’s rubber suit in The Dark Knight Rises, one of the year’s most highly anticipated movies, Christian Bale says it’s a bittersweet experience saying goodbye to the character. Bale is married to Sandra Blazic, a former model and makeup artist and the couple are raising their daughter Emmeline, 7, in Los Angeles. Bale actively supports Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund.
Q: How is it being in the most anticipated movie of the year? How much pressure is it for you?
CB: Well, I feel that as actors, we’ve done our work. The pressure is on Chris Nolan. But I have to say, I always approach every movie as if no one is ever going to see it, (laughs). It’s better because you don’t get self-conscious about it, and think about things like, ‘What are people going to think?’ I usually just go, ‘I don’t think anyone is going to see it, so do what you think is right and what you think is right for other people.’
Q: What about the physical undertaking of making this movie? Going around the world and just the scope of it all for you?
CB: I’m not accustomed to, other than the two movies that we’ve done, by far the longest schedules between movies that we’ve ever done, and I think everyone appreciates the certain amount of momentum. I mean, when you are in one place for too long, you start to have to re-invent things unnecessarily, so it’s nice. It’s nice to mix it up, go to different places and then it becomes an adventure. And you can re-invigorate yourself, with each new location.
Q: Was there a favourite place for you during the filming?
CB: I want to say that one of the places where everyone else would have said was a complete hell hole, was India. When we started the film, we did a couple of days in Jodhpur, and the locals thought we were fu**ing nuts. (laughter) We were out in 120 degree heat, and we would be walking back into this one room where we had air conditioning and go “Ah!” it was like putting your head in a freezer. It was 90 degrees in that room, just to show you how hot it was. I thought it was a great kind of induction by fire, into that whole thing. And of people, we were just having the most ridiculous conversations because of heat exposure by the end of each day. But it was a nice kind of bonding moment, it was very memorable.
Q: At this point, what do you expect the legacy of the Batman series to be? And personally, what do you want to leave with the audience?
CB: For me, time will tell with that. And for myself as well, I feel like you sit back and digest it. You watch it with new eyes for the first time, you watch it a few times and then you get that answer in a few years time. For myself, when you are inside a project, you cannot see the wood for the trees.
Q: Is Chris the kind of director you want to do future projects with?
CB: Yeah, absolutely, of course, yes.
Q: You mentioned that you won’t miss the Batman suit.
CB: Well it’s kind of a bittersweet thing. There are certain moments where you are in there you have got a migraine and you are in Saginaw. This is the year that when I landed badly on my back, or I did something and my back didn’t fix itself for a month, it was difficult. I’m used to it fixing after three days, but I’m 38 now, and I was hobbling about in the mornings, bloody hell, so things have changed for me this year. So, it did get exhausting, but the second you start complaining about that, I mean, come on. I can’t whine about that and just need to recognize that there’s this great iconic character that I’m getting to play.
Q: Did you make an improvement from the previous movies, like maybe the suit?
CB: The suit stayed pretty much the same, but just advanced in terms of character, where he’s at and what has he been doing? What has he had to reflect upon? And how long does somebody continue to have this painful episode in their life and continue to direct their lives? And we’ve always said that throughout the saga, who is warning what could go wrong? And so it’s kind of crunch time, how much longer can you do this? How much longer does he let it dominate his life, but can he get out, does he get through it?
Q: Does Batman introduce any new gadgets?
CB: Of course he does. He always has to intro something. And truly, some of the most phenomenal things. You can’t really get away without having Batman not have a new gadget.
Q: The Batman fans are pretty crazy and the Joker is so much more known as a villain than Bane which is such an obscure character. So the question just arises what way you can go, because most people don’t know **** about Batman except for the nerds and they know too much.
CB: You got both and you got a bold actor right here. Tom (Hardy) goes the distance, Tom goes way beyond what most other actors would do. And so be bold and respect Chris in his decisions and be bold and you’ve got a hell of an actor here that has created a phenomenon, a villain that stands by itself.
Q: What was it like reading the script for the first time and what your initial impressions like? What was that like being immersed in this world again?
CB: I’m used to the process because you go to Chris’ house and you sit and read it. And I’m a phenomenally slow reader. And when you that you’ve got the one opportunity to read, I usually read and re-read and re-read, so he couldn’t believe it, I think. Chris kept walking in, thinking, is he asleep? (laughs) We started lunchtime, it got dark, and the family was having dinner. I was still in there with people coming and going, and I was still there (laughs). /Viva Press
