Batman vs. Joker: When Heath Ledger Told Christian Bale to Hit Him Hard For Real, During Interrogation Scene
Almost a decade later, Heath Ledger's role in The Dark Knight remains the most acclaimed superhero movie performance of all time.
The Dark Knight: Heath Ledger’s performance as Joker in Christopher Nolan’s superhero film The Dark Knight is considered as one of the best performances not only in the Hollywood but also in the history of World cinema. The late actor’s commitment to the character was to such an extent that he actually told his co-star Christian Bale, who played Bruce Wayne / Batman in the movie, to actually hit him during the famous interrogation scene in The Dark Knight.
Talking about Heath Ledger’s dedication towards playing Joker, Christian Bale in an interview with a magazine recalled “Our first scene was in an interrogation room together, and I saw that he’s a helluva actor who’s completely committed to it and totally gets the tone that Chris [Nolan] is trying to create with this, we’re not going for actors revealing their enjoyment of playing a wacky caricature. We’re treating this as serious drama. You go into character and you stay in the character. I love that. I find that so ridiculous that I love it, and I take that very seriously.”
“Heath was definitely embracing that. 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,” continued the Batman actor.
The actor, who won an Oscar for playing the Joker, went to great lengths for the role, as is recounted in newly unearthed interviews with Ledger, director Christopher Nolan and Batman actor Christian Bale, who reveals that during the film’s iconic interrogation scene, Ledger encouraged him to make the physical altercation between the two authentic.
He mentioned that when the late actor 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. On Describing Ledger’s process while they filmed the interrogation scene, Bale said, “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. His commitment was total.”
Heath Ledger passed away due to accidental overdose on January 22, 2008, at the age of 28 only a few months before The Dark Knight was released and received critical as well as commercial success. Ledger was posthumously awarded Best Supporting Actor at the 81st Academy Award for his performance as the crown prince of crime.