Tom Hardy opens up about the challenge of wearing Bane's mask, Christian Bale dishes on Batman's constant pain, while Anne Hathaway discusses Catwoman's self-centric ethics.
- May 12, 2012
AceShowbiz - "The Dark Knight Rises" has just uncovered a new image of terrorist leader Bane in a very close-up shot. Being released via Total Film, the still shows the bulky supervillain portrayed by Tom Hardy sporting a demonic-look behind his iconic mask.
Speaking about Bane's mask, Hardy opened up that it was actually quite comfortable to wear during shooting. "It's not as bad as you might think. You just put it on," the British hunk explained. "Work out where your drool goes. That's it. Mask work is good fun. This one wasn't painful; there was the stunt mask and there was the up-close one for the sexy glam shots."
While Hardy gushed about the iconic mask, his co-star Christian Bale discussed the emotional condition of Bruce Wayne a.k.a Batman in this final Batman film. "He's always had this need, this drive, to take action because of the tragedy that befell him," the Oscar winner said. "He's not in the healthiest of places, in many ways."
Bale went on sharing that his lead character will feel "constant" pain throughout the movie. "It's about making the decision to continue [being Batman] in order to maybe self-destruct, or whether he can find some kind of rebirth, to be himself. There's a certain amount of reflection," so the thesp explained.
Meanwhile, Anne Hathaway admitted that she couldn't define whether or not Selina Kyle a.k.a Catwoman is a villain in the movie. She said, "It's an incredible role. It's one of the most famous comic-book characters for a woman. But also, it's Catwoman in this franchise. It's hard to talk about Selina Kyle because she's intensely private and mysterious. She has her own ethics, which can involve doing things other people might consider questionable."
Hathaway additionally dished on filming a fight scene between Catwoman and 15 bad guys. "There were some days when I was wearing the catsuit for a long time and I had to fight 15 guys, and I just wanted to shout from the rooftops how excited I am," she recalled.
While the three cast members discussed each of their respective characters, director Christopher Nolan opened up about how he plotted his final Caped Crusader movie. "We feel a tremendous challenge and responsibility to finish our story," he said.
"We have to give the audience something they haven't seen before, but also fulfill their expectations of what they enjoyed in the first two films. That's the tricky balance. With a sequel there is always the challenge of trying to meet or indeed exceed expectations."
Taking place eight years after the events in "The Dark Knight", "The Dark Knight Rises" sees terrorist Bane arriving in Gotham City, pushing it and its police force to their limits, as well as forcing Batman to resurface after taking the fall for Harvey Dent's crimes. The highly anticipated DC Comics film will arrive in the U.S. on July 20.
