critiques

Christian Bale Wasn’t Completely Sold on His Own Batman Performances, But They’re a Done Deal

EE British Academy Film Awards 2014 - Red Carpet Arrivals
Bale. Photo: Chris Jackson/2014 Getty Images

With Batman v Superman hitting screens this month, Yahoo! asked Christian Bale to reflect on his turn in the suit. The former Caped Crusader reveals in the interview that he originally wanted to play up Bruce Wayne’s complexities more, and that he thinks his performances found in the Dark Knight trilogy “didn’t quite nail it.” “Batman’s this very, very, very dark, messed-up character,” he explains. Bale wanted to use the suit “as a means of, It’s his true monstrous self that he allows to come out in that moment.” That was the goal, but Heath Ledger “ruined the plans” with his Joker, a complex scene-stealer played with villainous brilliance. Though Bale sounds like he never got closure with his character, he adds that Nolan’s saga, overall, did nail what it was going for, and that he’s not offering anymore Bat action (for now?).

Roll the relevant portion of the interview below:

And take solace in the fact that Bale got to try his hand at playing another very, very, very complex character in another Knight movie, which comes out this weekend.

Bale Wasn’t Completely Stoked With His Batman