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Aaron Eckhart on The Dark Knight
By Fred Topel | Image property of Warner Bros
Aaron Eckhart plays Harvey Dent, the politician of Gotham City in The Dark Knight. That doesn't stop him from getting in on the action though. Dent is a target of The Joker, so many a car chase or fight scene involve mild mannered Eckhart.
Aaron Eckhart on The Dark Knight
"The reason why things look real is because they were," said Eckhart. "Chris [Nolan] in any instance that he could would do the real thing. He used stuntmen. He used the best in the world. He would flip trucks. He would fly helicopters in. At one point I was in a building with somebody, the mayor, and all of a sudden a string of I don't know what kind of helicopters they were but they were Army helicopters and they just come right through the downtown Chicago, lower than the buildings. I was like, 'Whoa!' I thought there was a war on in Chicago or Batman was in town. Flipping cars and all that stuff is real and that's why this movie looks real. I know that green screen was used but I think sparingly. He likes to employ stuntmen."
Bruce Wayne actually supports Harvey Dent. He would like the law to work so he didn't need to become Batman. Of course, Dent does not remain incorruptible for long.
"What's interesting is there are so many issues and I don't know what I can say and what I can't, but I think Harvey's darkness was, and I'm sure that law enforcement plays with this all the time, is they feel like they love the law but they're constrained by the law. Sometimes they can't deal with what they know is right the way they want to. I felt like that's where Batman came in, because that's what Batman's all about. Batman's about doing extraordinary things in extraordinary circumstances, and at this point Gotham City is so mired with the cancer of corruption and criminality, that Harvey really is the only one that's willing to take it on publicly. So I'm sure that Harvey dreamed of doing what he might later be doing as Harvey Two Face. I think Harvey would like to use Batman's tools. He wants to be part of the club I think. That's where he goes dark."
Batman readers know the tragic fate of Harvey Dent, whether it happens in The Dark Knight or not. Eckhart focused on just playing Harvey.
The Dark Knight
"I actually was very happy that I got to play Harvey Dent who was sort of the opposite because I really loved playing Harvey Dent, the leader of Gotham City, the political future and the crime fighter and the Internal Affairs, and having this relationship with the other characters in the movie, all the dynamics that were going on there. It was fun to do the press conferences and act like an important person. So I really did enjoy that and all the dynamics that Chris allowed. I was surprised that Harvey Dent was in the movie so much, to be frank."
The horrors of Gotham City are intense and sometimes graphic, yet Eckhart feels The Dark Knight is restrained.
"I actually thought it was pretty subtle. Imagine what they could have done. That's what I was thinking. That's another thing about the tone of the movie was, are we going to go outer space with this or what's the makeup going to be like? Do you want to get humor out of this? Look at Heath. Sometimes humor is mostly scary in a psychological way. So now I don't think we really should discuss how the makeup is applied or what it is because I really feel like people go there with a fresh, open mind and not have the baggage of the technique or the how it was done aspect. I think it's better for them. But I thought that, in the way that it was played, just right down the middle, straight, not too big, just play it like it's not even there. Tat was the whole objective of it, I think."
The Dark Knight opens to theaters on July 18th.
For the trailers, posters, stills and more movie info, go to The
Dark Knight Movie Page.
Fred Topel
Sources: Image property of Warner Bros
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