The 2008 DC movie, The Dark Knight from Christopher Nolan is deemed irreplaceable and one of the greatest comic book adaptations of all time. And Christian Bale’s performance as Batman undoubtedly played a major role in its success. But the one character that no one can forget is Heath Ledger’s devious representation of The Joker.
While Christian Bale’s Batman was the titular character, Heath Ledger simply stole the show with his Oscar-winning role as The Joker. Although Ledger was highly criticized before being cast, he ended up becoming synonymous with the character. While dedicating himself to his role in the movie, Ledger even went out of his way to bring out authenticity in one particular scene with Bale.
Christian Bale Had to Up His Game Opposite to Heath Ledger
Being a part of Christopher Nolan‘s projects isn’t everybody’s cup of tea, and Christian Bale was quite aware of it after working with him in Batman Begins as the titular character. But while Bale knew his tricks around Nolan’s set, during his 2008 movie he was faced with unbeatable competition from the phenomenal actor, Heath Ledger.
Right after one scene, Christian Bale knew he needed to up his game opposite his co-star. The newcomer on set had already started impressing everyone around with his ferocious spin on the Clown Prince of Crime. Therefore, Bale and Ledger eventually dived in headfirst from their very first scene together.
Although Christian Bale is known for his unbeatable method acting, he was stunned by his colleague’s sheer commitment to his role as The Joker. Realizing soon enough that he didn’t stand a chance opposite Heath Ledger, despite being the titular superhero, Bale accepted his fate and worked together towards the success of the film.
Heath Ledger Urged Christian Bale to Throw Real Punches
During his interviews with The Hollywood Reporter, Christian Bale reflected upon his co-star’s commitment and dedication towards his role as The Joker. Stunned by how Heath Ledger spent months preparing for the role and still didn’t get consumed by it, Bale stated,
“When he was in the makeup and the garb he was in character the whole time; and when he took it off he was absolutely fantastic company to be around.”
Further, reflecting upon one particular scene from The Dark Knight, where the two characters engage in the most heated exchanges, Bale shared his experience. According to him, Ledger actively encouraged Bale to hit him for real in order to add further layers of authenticity to the interrogation scene.
“As you see in the movie, Batman starts beating the Joker and realizes that this is not your ordinary foe. Because the more I beat him the more he enjoys it. The more I’m giving him satisfaction. Heath was behaving in a very similar fashion.”
“He was kinda egging me on. I was saying, ‘You know what, I really don’t need to actually hit you. It’s going to look just as good if I don’t,’. And he’s going, ‘Go on. Go on. Go on….’ He was slamming himself around, and there were tiled walls inside of that set which were cracked and dented from him hurling himself into them.”
Impressed with Ledger’s commitment to his role, Christian Bale simply let go of his concern that his stoic Bruce Wayne would get overshadowed. Because that is exactly what happened, and Bale was quite aware of it.
