With Christopher Nolan‘s Dark Knight saga taking its final bow this month (The Dark Knight Rises is released on DVD Tuesday December 4), the great director himself sat down to answer some questions, reveal some behind-the-scenes info, and explaining what the experience meant to him. HitFix was present for the entire discussion, which encompassed topics as diverse as the director’s Bond aspirations, his disinterest with comics, and one Heath Ledger.
Most shockingly was the revelation that Nolan and Ledger had met during the casting process of Batman Begins, where Nolan had spoken to the young actor about possibly taking on the role of Bruce Wayne. After hearing Nolan’s proposal:
Ledger politely explained to the director why he would never be involved in a comic book film.
It wasn’t untill after the success of Batman Begins that Ledger showed signs of interest in jumping aboard the franchise. The gritty realism that is so characteristic of Nolan’s movies had made the actor “hungry” to take part:
Eventually Nolan met with Ledger again, this time for the specific role of the Joker. Ledger had seen Nolan do what he set out to do with “Batman Begins” and the interest was finally there
I really love the idea that Heath was up for the role of Batman but ended up playing his nemesis, The Joker. It speaks a lot toward the nature of the two character’s relationships; the notion that they are simply (sorry Harvey) two halves of the same coin— the dark and light. Perhaps that’s reading a little too much into a coincidence, but knowing what a technical and specific filmmaker Nolan is makes me think he saw qualities in Heath that he wanted to embody in both Batman and The Joker.
I can’t impress on you how much you should read the original Hitfix article. While not providing any more juicy revelations, it does offer a fascinating look into the process that Heath underwent to become the character of The Joker. Nolan speaks of Heath’s voice changing so rapidlly during one page of dialog that the director and his crew had no idea what to expect while filming or rehearsing. It’s riviting stuff, and it makes me feel wonderful to know that such a talented actor crafted one of my favorite cinematic performances through hard-work, and as we’ve seen above, careful consideration.
Could Heath have made a convincing Bruce Wayne? I’m not sure if I can see it myself, especially knowing the world would have been denied such an incredible performance had the actor chosen the first offered entrance into Gotham City.
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