In a recent interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer about working with Zhang Yimou in an upcoming war epic, THE FLOWERS OF WAR, Christian Bale has also shared his juicy thoughts about his co-stars -- Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt -- in Christopher Nolan's THE DARK KNIGHT RISES.
On Anne Hathaway, who plays Catwoman:
I had plenty of scenes with Anne. And I was there when we did the screen test for her. The thing that I said to Chris [Nolan] that day was that there were many very accomplished actresses who had read for the role. I'm terrible at auditions, so I'm very impressed when somebody really seems to acquire an ownership of a character without having worked on it or prepared for some amount of time.
I saw that in Anne. When Chris watched the screen test, he agreed that Anne did a wonderful job. In many ways, she has the hardest job. There are a number of people who feel that the Catwoman role has been defined previously. So, I always saw Anne's role as being the toughest job of any of us. In my case, I've stopped referencing outside sources. I now reference Chris' own world of Batman as a guide to what I will continue doing.
I saw that in Anne. When Chris watched the screen test, he agreed that Anne did a wonderful job. In many ways, she has the hardest job. There are a number of people who feel that the Catwoman role has been defined previously. So, I always saw Anne's role as being the toughest job of any of us. In my case, I've stopped referencing outside sources. I now reference Chris' own world of Batman as a guide to what I will continue doing.
On Tom Hardy, who plays Bane:
I like working with him a great deal. He goes the whole hog. I know that Bane has been seen in movies before. But, in my eyes, Tom is essentially creating Bane for the first time so there's great freedom for him to be able to do so.
On Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who plays John Blake:
Joseph is a very intriguing guy. I would see Joseph's performances in other films while we were filming. He's somebody who truly seems to love acting. He's a good, smart guy. He did a very good job in the movie.
Lastly, Bale himself has once again confirmed that THE DARK KNIGHT RISES is definitely the end of his journey as the Bat.
I wrapped a few days ago so that will be the last time I'm taking that cowl [Batman hood] off. I believe that the whole production wrapped yesterday, so it's all done. Everything's finished. It's me and Chris – that will be the end of that Batman era.