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Christian Bale’s portrayal of the iconic Batman in theDark Knighttrilogy is often regarded as one of the best portrayals of the character. Collaborating withOppenheimerdirector Christopher Nolan, the duo created a grounded and serious version of Batman that would heavily influence the tone of future depictions.
Christian Bale has mentioned in many interviews that he was obsessed with playing the character even before he was cast. In fact, while Nolan was looking at other actors for the role, Bale would not let it happen.
Also read:“I enjoy it that way”: Christian Bale Kept His Distance from Johnny Depp for a Strange Reason After His Explosive Rant in $371M Movie Went Viral
How Christian Bale And Christopher Nolan Crafted The Iconic Bruce Wayne?
Before Christopher Nolan andChristian Baleredefined the superhero genre with theDark Knighttrilogy, the last Batman portrayal was Joel Schumacher’s extremely campy and ridiculedBatman and Robin. After the latter film bombed at the box office, there were many proposals for a reboot of the franchise. At some point,Black Swandirector Darren Aronofsky was also in talks for a Batman film. However, WB chose to go with Christopher Nolan’s pitch, with whom they had just collaborated inInsomnia.
Christopher Nolan envisioned a more realistic and grounded Batman, taking a darker approach to the character inBatman Begins. He wanted to explore the origins of Brice Wayne, which all previous adaptations had just alluded to. He collaborated with screenwriter David S Goyer for the script, which took inspiration from Richard Donner’sSuperman.
Also read:Christian Bale Would Have Put Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man Contract to Shame With Legendary Zack Snyder Movie Offer
Christian Bale was interested in the role since Aronofsky’s involvement. Nolan met theAmerican Psychoactor in the early stages of development and while the director loved Bale, he also tried out different actors for the caped crusader. Actors like Cillian Murphy and Josh Hartnett auditioned for the role. But the role ultimately went to the director’s initial choice, Christian Bale.
Talking about Bale, Nolan mentioned,“He has exactly the balance of darkness and light that we were looking for.”Apparently, the actor changed his voice during his audition to give a more gruff tone to Batman, contrasting it with that of Bruce Wayne.
Also read:“I won’t be working with him again”: Christian Bale Vowed Never to Work With One Director After Asking Christopher Nolan’s Brother to Save ‘Pathetic’ Script That Made $371M at Box-Office
Christian Bale Was Obsessed With Playing Batman
Christian Bale is an intense actor. Right before he played the iconic Batman, he starred in the psychological thrillerThe Machinistwhere he famously lost 62 pounds to give the character the right look. He immediately gained back the weight forBatman Begins. He did it again for playing former Vice President Dick Cheney in Adam McKay’sVice, with Bale gaining 40 pounds for the role.
The actor was interested in the role after he read through a few graphic novels, realizing the depths of the character. Talking to Black Film about the character,
“[I] realized that he was a really great character, a dark severe character, unlike anything that I had realized he can be before. So that’s when I first thought to myself I really want to play this character.”
Also read:$50 Million Was Not Enough to Convince Christian Bale to Put on the Batsuit in Henry Cavill’s Cancelled Superman Movie
He also mentioned that Nolan’s involvement in the film made him even more excited for it and he was not willing to let go of the character. He said,
“By the time I actually came to be cast I kind of gotten so obsessed about it that I kind of viewed it as it being mine already. It would’ve been more like…if they had told me like ‘No it’s not yours’. I would’ve been like ‘No way that’s not working out, that’s not going to happen.’”
The effort seems to have paid off as the franchise grossed over $2.4 billion at the global box office and is regarded as some of the greatest films ever.
Also read:Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy Star Said Part 4 Would’ve Replaced Christian Bale With Another Actor: “That was the idea”
Source:Black Film
Nishanth A
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2417
Nishanth A is a Senior Entertainment Writer at FandomWire, majorly focusing on TV shows with over 2,000 articles published. He has been an entertainment journalist for the past two years and a scriptwriter at various corporations before that, working on educational content. With a Communications, English Literature, and Psychology triple major, Nishanth usually covers news and analyses on Star Trek, particularly Strange New Worlds and The Next Generation; Doctor Who, the DCU, and more.A Nolan fan, Nishanth spends his time exploring the filmographies of various directors with an auteurial style or can be found making short movies of his own. He has also contributed as a feature writer for Film Companion, focusing on the South division.
