“The performance is Bruce Wayne”: For Kevin Conroy, Playing the Playboy Billionaire Was Harder Than Batman

Anyone who knows anything about the DC’s Dark Knight will probably tell you that Batman is more authentic to the personality of the character than Bruce Wayne. While they might appear to be one and the same person, Batman has repeatedly said that Bruce Wayne is the performance he puts up for society, while Batman is the persona that he identifies with as his authentic self.

To play Batman, actors must understand this fundamental aspect of the character. Be it in live-action or in animation, actors who are able to discern this end up playing the character to perfection, as was the case with Kevin Conroy, who has essayed the role of the Dark Knight for more than two decades across mediums.

For Kevin Conroy, it is tougher to play Bruce Wayne than Batman

Kevin Conroy has essayed the role of Batman across multiple mediums. Speaking to IGN, the actor talked about which part of Batman he likes playing, and which part he thinks is the performance. He demonstrated a clear understanding of the Batman character, echoing what Dark Knight has said multiple times. He revealed:

“Bruce Wayne is the performance element. That’s always been my key to the character, and I think when you play it that way it makes the Batman so authentic. “

Kevin Conroy opened up about other things that he has enjoyed about the character, specifically how WB has allowed different actors to essay the role over the years.

The character has gone through so many iterations under so many capable actors, that audiences have been exposed to many versions of Bruce Wayne and Batman, who more or less follow the principle of Bruce Wayne being the mask, and Batman being the genuine personality.

Kevin Conroy revealed why he loves the fact that Batman does not kill

Speaking about the many things he enjoys about the character, Kevin Conroy brought up the No-Kill rule that Batman follows above everything else. He said:

“Personally I love the fact that Batman – in the stories I’ve done, and the way he’s been rendered by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini, the people I’ve worked with most closely – he never kills anybody. He doesn’t cross that line. Batman is not a killer.

He puts them into Arkham Asylum, which is what is so brilliant about the Arkham Games – someone realised, ‘my god, all these incredible villains are all in the same institution – let’s get a video game in there’. It’s a brilliant idea. But the fact that Batman never kills anyone – I loved that fact. In the most recent live action movie, that seems to have been a line that was crossed and it’s not one I’m particularly comfortable with.”

Conroy brought up the fact that the line that has been crossed in the recent live actions films, and how is not entirely comfortable with the idea of Batman killing. This refers to the interpretation of the character that appeared in the DCEU, which was famously more violent than how we have seen the Dark Knight in live-action settings.