Aaron Eckhart joins the Dark Knight cast as Gotham’s crime-fighting district attorney Harvey Dent. Hollywood.com caught up with the star to find out more.
HW: What did you think the first time you read the script?
AE: I knew that the Joker was in the movie. And I knew Heath [Ledger] was playing the Joker. And so I thought, okay it’s the Joker’s movie. And I started reading the script, and I was like, ‘Wow, Harvey Dent! Great, wow.’ You know, he does this and he kept on going and Harvey was such a great character. He did all these things. He was involved with Rachel Dawes, and with Bruce Wayne, and with Batman. And I was like inside my house [clapping] going, ‘Yeah, this is great!’
HW: What did you think about Batman and Harvey in relationship to the city?
AE: I liked how Harvey felt about Batman, because we’re both crime-fighters. But we both do it in different ways. One is inside the law, one’s outside the law. One has tools and the other one doesn’t…There’s a lot of those issues that are going on today in our world. Decisions that have to be made and people are who standing up and are unpopular for those decisions…It’s a heavy movie in a lot of ways.
[PAGEBREAK]
HW: It’s also about professional corruption and comprise as a D.A., is it not?
AE: The thing that struck me right away was the contemporary issues, the mirrors of our times. The things he was tackling. And although they weren’t outright comparisons he got everything in there, I thought. I think why this movie will work on another level and be important to people either sub-consciously or consciously, I’m not sure which one. But they’ll appreciate this movie as more than just a comic book movie.
HW: This movie is totally ahead of the audience. It doesn’t go through any of the clichés or the predictable routines of a typical screenplay.
AE: I really liked the fact that the audience could get to know Harvey. Could fall in love with Harvey or get to understand him so that when he becomes Two-Face – and makes that transformation – then you will know why or could understand why… when that’s ripped from him in the way that it is, I think the audience can go ‘Okay, I can understand’..I think the Joker is a little different although he does have a heart…I’ll tell you why with my hypothesis here. Why would the Joker comment so many times on his face if that didn’t come from a very deep place of hurt. He might be lying about it, you know. But he’s trying to explain. He’s trying to find an audience. Just like Batman finds an audience with Alfred. You know, self-examination and moments of self-doubt. Like Harvey does with Rachel. Everybody needs a sounding board in this movie. And that’s what’s special in this movie, too, there are moments of quiet and silence in reflection.
[PAGEBREAK]
HW: What was it like working with Heath Ledger?
AE: I just had great time with Heath. I don’t know Heath that well. But I really cherished my time that I had with him to work, and be in the make-up trailer with Heath while he was discovering his face and me discovering my face. And listening to him, and getting into character, and whistling and all this other kind of stuff. You know, that was fun. I was getting into my character and looking at him and going ‘Okay, you know, what am I going to do with my face?’ Because he created his look, you know, that is, that character Heath loved so much. He really cared about the Joker and wanted to work on the Joker. And so, we hadn’t rehearsed that scene in the hospital. I didn’t know what to expect that day but I knew Heath was doing some amazing work…I didn’t really have that much to do that day in the bed. I just sort of sat there, and Heath did his thing, you know? Once he started doing his thing, I was an actor in the scene but I was a fan. I was looking at him and going, ‘Wow dude! That’s pretty good!! That’s pretty good stuff!!
HW: Did he stay in character, even off-camera?
AE: Yeah, ah, yeah sure. I think he had to because he was so close to it what he was doing was so special and that energy is so – as an actor when you get that energy you want to keep it close to you because otherwise you’re going to have dips in energy…and it’s hard to get it back to that level. So, during the day keep it really close to you. So you can always access it.
[PAGEBREAK]
HW: Do you think it was hard for Heath to leave the character behind on the set?
AE: No I don’t…this was a movie [set] where kids were all around. Everybody was talking about kids. Everybody was showing pictures of their kids. I was the only one in the trailer that didn’t have kids [laughs]. You know, uh, Heath showed me pictures and talked about it and would come in say [Matilda] did this and she did that and Maggie [Gyllenhaal] just had her child. Gary [Oldman] has two kids. Chris [Nolan] just had a kid during the movie…Chris always kept it light on the set.
HW: The movie is so intense, though, so how do you keep it light?
AE: You can’t keep it intense for seven months [of shooting]. You just can’t do it. You love your character and everything. If Chris were as intense as the movie for seven months he would be in a sanitarium, you know what I mean?
The Dark Knight opens in theaters July 18, 2008
