COMMENT

Anne Hathaway as Catwoman/Selina

Acting alongside Christian Bale was not the only reason Anne Hathaway was excited to portray what she calls “one of the most famous female comic book characters ever.” She recounts, “I did look back at some archival comics and read a lot about Bob Kane’s inspirations for Catwoman, but the most important thing was to be Catwoman in this film and fit into Christopher Nolan’s Gotham City.

I’m such a huge fan of Chris’s. With Batman, he has been able to pose some really interesting philosophical questions, while shooting these spectacular action sequences and also finding the humor. It was a thrill to work with someone whose mind is so brilliant and whose talent is so very evident.”

Nolan offers, “We needed to find the balance between the classic image of the character and a believable person you care about. Casting Anne Hathaway in the role was the key to that. She was able to combine those facets seamlessly so they aren’t in conflict, but one is amplifying the other.”

“I think Selina does what is necessary to survive,” relates Hathaway, “and that includes crossing a few lines that others might find unforgivable. Even if she wants to change, it’s hard to escape your past…and she does have a past. That makes her vulnerable, especially these days when anyone with a computer or smartphone can look up almost anything about you. Everybody has moments in life when they think, ‘If I knew then what I know now…’ Selina might like the opportunity not to have to live by the choices she was forced to make up to this point.”

Tom Hardy
Bane, however, has no such compunctions. Everything he does is a means to an end. Tom Hardy attests, “Bane has come to do a job and has no feelings of remorse or shame about the death and destruction he’s causing. There is nothing ambiguous about Bane. He is clearly a villain…just a horrible piece of work.”

Perhaps less widely known than Catwoman, Bane is infamous among Batman comic fans for the terrible harm he inflicts on the Caped Crusader. Having recently worked with Hardy on “Inception,” Nolan knew he could project an extreme physical and psychological threat despite having to act from behind a mask. “When you’re creating a monstrous presence like Bane in a movie, you could concentrate just on the physical or you could focus on the more psychological aspects. With Tom, I knew I would get the whole package. He is such an incredible actor; he was able to depict this beast of a man who has exceptional fighting skills, but also able to convey the soul of someone who is damaged inside as well as out. Tom is the kind of actor who relished the challenge of having to generate an entire performance with most of his face covered up. What he is able to do with just his eyes is truly amazing.”

Hardy states that the mask was not a deterrent when given an opportunity to rejoin the director, especially on a Dark Knight film. “Chris called me up and said there was a role I might be good for, but he wasn’t sure I’d be interested because I’d have to wear a mask for several months. He wouldn’t tell me anything else about the character, except that he was a very bad guy. I said, ‘Let me get this straight: you want me to come and work with you, travel around the world, have a stunt team and all the weapons I could possibly want to play with, and all I have to do is wear a mask?’ He answered, ‘Yeah, pretty much…’ And I said, ‘I’m in!’”

Unlike Batman, Bane does not wear a mask to conceal his identity, but to anesthetize himself against excruciating pain, resulting from injuries he suffered long ago. Countering Nolan’s concerns, Hardy says, “I didn’t feel limited by the mask. What’s cool about it is, as soon as you put it on, you become the character.”

The actor adds that his portrayal of Bane entailed creating a contradiction between the voice and the body. “He is florid in his speech, but has the physicality of a gorilla. So while he is quite articulate, we also wanted to establish a very imposing presence.”

Working underground and undetected, Bane is plotting a multi-pronged attack on Gotham, involving firepower, finance and fear.

Gary Oldman
Part of his plan requires neutralizing the police department, still led by Commissioner Gordon, although “to a certain extent, Gordon was more useful to the political leaders of Gotham when the city was overrun by organized crime,” Nolan points out. “Now that is under control, so there are people eyeing his job, presuming he’s no longer needed. But Gordon has been struggling with the fact that all of this is based on a false foundation.”

“It’s a secret that’s eaten away at him for years,” confirms Gary Oldman. “Crime is at an all-time low in Gotham, but Gordon knows that it’s tainted. Now he’s ready to come clean, but there doesn’t seem to be a right time or place, and he also questions if the city is ready for the truth. Then, because of Bane, he’s in the field again. I think he’s like a soldier who likes to be on the front lines, getting his hands dirty. He’s probably been doing a lot of paper pushing in the intervening years and that has dampened his spirits. Now you really feel like the old Gordon is back.”

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Gordon finds a new protégé in policeman John Blake, whose devotion to the job impresses his boss. Emma Thomas says, “Gordon definitely sees something of himself as a young cop in John Blake. Everyone else seems to have lost focus because things have been so good, but Blake is the first to realize that something’s up, and Gordon recognizes those instincts by promoting him and putting him on his team.”

Describing his role, Joseph Gordon-Levitt says, “John Blake is the kind of guy who probably always wanted to be a cop and dedicates himself to being excellent at his job. He is someone who believes in what he does and I admire that in anybody. In the midst of a lot of cynicism, he remains proud to be a police officer.”

Nolan comments, “Commissioner Gordon and Bruce Wayne have become somewhat jaded, so we wanted to contrast that with a younger, more idealistic individual who, in a way, represents where they’ve come from. Joe really captured the strength and courage of a man who refuses to back down, regardless of the odds.”

Marion Cotillard

The character of Miranda Tate can also relate to Bruce, albeit from a place of affluence. Cast in the role, Marion Cotillard notes, “They both have a lot of money and are trying to use it in a good way, so they understand each other right away.”

Bale agrees. “Miranda is somebody who is encouraging Bruce to use his resources for the betterment of Gotham through an environmental project. She is beautiful, smart and altruistic, and all the good that she aspires to earns his respect and also intrigues him a great deal.”

Having collaborated with Nolan on his original drama “Inception,” Cotillard and Gordon-Levitt were both excited to reunite with the director on the finale of his Dark Knight trilogy. Gordon-Levitt says, “Amidst all the spectacle, I think the honest human dramas are what distinguish the way Chris approaches these movies. For an actor, that’s inspiring and a lot more fun.”

“I love working with Chris,” adds Cotillard. “He fosters a great feeling of family on the set, even on such a huge movie. And he has the intelligence and imagination to take you on an unbelievable adventure and make it something you believe. It was especially interesting to work with him to create the character of Miranda because she doesn’t exist in the comics.”

A member of the board of Wayne Enterprises, Miranda’s affluence makes her a vital ally to Bruce when the company becomes the target of a hostile takeover. On a more personal level, Nolan says, “She is looked at by Alfred and Lucius as a woman who could perhaps bring Bruce out of his own exile and remind him that there is more to life than sitting alone in the Batcave. Marion has an incredibly appealing presence with an exotic glamour. She brought a combination of warmth and wisdom to Miranda that provides a great sense of hope for Bruce.”

Morgan Freeman

Freeman again plays Wayne Enterprises’ brilliant inventor, Lucius Fox. “Although Lucius works for Bruce, he has been a mentor to him,” observes Freeman. “Compared to Lucius and Alfred, Bruce is still a relatively young man, so between the two of them, they try to keep his moral compass pointed in the right direction.”

Charles Roven offers, “Lucius has always been the brains behind the tools that Bruce uses to become Batman, and he fulfills that function once again. But he has also grown to have great fondness for Bruce and, like Alfred, he is trying to pull him out of the dark emotional place he’s been in.”

Inarguably, the person closest to Bruce is Alfred Pennyworth, who, Bale says, “has been the one constant throughout his life…the only family he has left. Alfred has seen him grow up, watched him become a man and seen the pain he’s gone through. He accepted Bruce’s need to honor his parents and try to right the wrongs of their deaths, but equally he recognizes that his parents would be desperately unhappy that he’s not living any kind of life. There’s always been that caution from Alfred that this is not the best thing for Bruce in the long run, and it comes to a head in this story.”

Nolan expounds, “When we first explored the relationship between Alfred and Bruce in ‘Batman Begins,’ it was immediately apparent to me that I only understood Alfred’s endorsement of Bruce’s extreme action in creating the Batman persona if there would be an end to it—if there was seen to be a time when Batman had acted as a catalyst to change Gotham and then Bruce could move on from that. In ‘The Dark Knight Rises,’ we’re dealing with Alfred’s frustration that Bruce has not been able to extricate himself from being Batman. Even though he has no longer been going out every night wearing the cape and cowl, he clearly has not been able to put it behind him, and Alfred feels it’s his duty to help Bruce find a way to do that.”

Michael Caine
Reprising the part of Alfred, Michael Caine remarks, “It hurts Alfred to tell Bruce that he knew there was nothing for him in Gotham City except pain and tragedy, but he was right. I was thinking that, in terms of the audience, Alfred represents us in this incredible world. He is our spokesman. He’s not tough like the others; he reacts like an ordinary human being in this situation.”

“What Michael has always brought to Alfred is tremendous heart,” Nolan says. “Watching Christian and Michael play out the unique relationship between these two characters has been one of the great joys of working on these films.”