During a recent interview about the Dark Knight Rises, Christian Bale, who plays Batman in the film, discussed his castmates, his personal investment in the franchise and future acting plans.
Although Bale talked a bit about Tom Hardy and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, he seemed to have the most praise for Anne Hathaway, who plays the role of Catwoman in the upcoming film.
As you may recall, the casting choice had many fans initially scratching their heads, as Catwoman goes steeply against type for the usually-goofy actor.
But Bale told the Inquirer he was there for Hathaway’s first screen test.
“The thing that I said to Chris [Nolan] that day was that there were many very accomplished actresses who had read for the role.
“I’m terrible at auditions, so I’m very impressed when somebody really seems to acquire an ownership of a character without having worked on it or prepared for some amount of time. I saw that in Anne.
“When Chris watched the screen test,” he continued, “he agreed that Anne did a wonderful job. In many ways, she has the hardest job. There are a number of people who feel that the Catwoman role has been defined previously. So, I always saw Anne’s role as being the toughest job of any of us. In my case, I’ve stopped referencing outside sources. I now reference Chris’ own world of Batman as a guide to what I will continue doing.”
Bale refers to the past playing of Catwoman by high-profile actors like Michelle Pfeiffer and Halle Berry, who each made the character her own, but also made it difficult to see the character sympathetically or even believably.
Hopefully, Hathaway has created something new, under Christopher Nolan’s direction, which makes the character a little less ridiculous. From all the on-set stories and the promotional photographs, she seems to have done well, but we’ll see for sure when the film is released.
He went on to confirm once again that he is not going to do anymore Batman films, then talked about his roles in several upcoming movies, and even discussed his personal and family life, which is quite rare for the veteran actor. You can read the full interview on the Inquirer’s site.
Dark Knight Rises hits theaters July 20, 2012.
