The Dark Knight Entertainment Weekly Cover

With The Dark Knight about to be released, the interesting interviews and magazine covers are starting to come out. First up is Entertainment Weekly with Batman and Joker (Christian Bale and Heath Ledger) sharing the cover. In an interview for the magazine, Director Christopher Nolan gives intriguing detailsabout the movie and Heath Ledger’s fearless performance.

On Heath’s commitment to his character: ”The guy had serious nuts. What I needed was someone who wouldn’t be afraid of the comparison with Jack Nicholson. And then I saw Heath’s incredible performance in Brokeback Mountain. Such a lack of vanity. This was an actor who wasn’t afraid to bury himself in his character — to a massive extent.”

Nolan goes on to tell how involved Heath was with his character, The Joker. Heath worked with a voice coach to get the disconnected, crackling voice that the Joker has. He also started applying the makeup himself, and how streaking the make up allowed him to communicate the “corruption and decay” of the Joker.

When I first heard that Heath Ledger was playing the Joker, I was nervous for him. Following in the footsteps of Jack Nicholson, Heath had some pretty big shoes to fill. From everything I am hearing, he more than pulled it off. I can’t wait to see The Dark Knight and Heath Ledger’s Oscar buzzing performance.