The stars of "The Batman" including Robert Pattinson (Batman/Bruce Wayne), Zoë Kravitz (Catwoman/Selina Kyle), Colin Farrell (The Penguin/Oswald Cobblepot), Paul Dano (The Riddler/Edward Nashton), Jeffrey Wright (James Gordon) and John Turturro (Carmine Falcone) discuss their DC movie in this interview with CinemaBlend Managing Editor Sean O'Connell.
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00:00It literally took about a million takes to get that right.
00:03They looked so awkward. You're like,
00:05-"Oh, God!" -"Oh, my God!"
00:11So good to be with you both. How are you doing?
00:13Good. How are you doing?
00:14That is such a cool T-shirt.
00:15Is that like a Picasso Batman shirt?
00:18Oh, it's a bang-bang.
00:19Oh, there you go. Sorry, sorry, sorry.
00:21It's my man. It's my man.
00:22Come on. It's been a long day, Rob.
00:26Rob, I have to start with you because the only scene in this movie
00:28that made me literally cringe in fear and turn away from the screen
00:31was when Batman reached into a cage with a live bat
00:35to retrieve a clue, and I can't do that.
00:38If that were my point in the movie, I'd have said,
00:40-"I'm sorry. It's over. I'm out." -"I'm leaving."
00:42Did you really do it, and are you scared of bats at all?
00:46I'm weirdly not scared of bats.
00:48They're not scary. They're cute.
00:49They're kind of cute, and I know.
00:51Minus COVID.
00:52I don't want to blame the bats for it.
00:54And that weirdly, though, that scene was one of...
00:58Because it's one of the strangely difficult scenes
01:01because the suit only allows you to move your arm in a certain way,
01:05and if you're at the wrong angle and trying to twist your arm around
01:08and do kind of delicate motor functions,
01:13it's almost impossible to get the thing out of the cage.
01:16It literally took about a million takes to get that right.
01:19They looked so awkward. You're like...
01:21Oh, God!
01:23This guy's crazy!
01:25It's a pleasure to be with you.
01:27I'm going to start here.
01:28Every time I tell a casual fan that you were playing the penguin in this movie,
01:32they refuse to believe that it's you.
01:33When you are cast in a role,
01:35but then they tell you that prosthetics and makeup
01:37are going to ensure that you are completely unrecognizable,
01:40is that good or bad?
01:42I had never had an experience with it before.
01:44I did a thing called Horrible Bosses once,
01:45and I had a bit of prosthetics on that, but no, this was next level.
01:48I didn't know when I signed on to do it.
01:50I didn't know, so I was already just in my own head
01:52struggling with what I could do with the character
01:54because there wasn't that many scenes,
01:55but they were all really well drawn,
01:57written, of course, by Matt. He's a wonderful writer.
01:59But when I saw for the first time
02:02the design of Oz that Mike Marino had
02:07so creatively and imaginatively, you know, constructed,
02:10I just was blown away.
02:12I was giddy with excitement, man.
02:13I didn't know...
02:14I didn't know it would be as profoundly liberating
02:18an experience as it was.
02:20You know, I thought it might be a bit constricting and...
02:23You know, but it'd be interesting.
02:24But when I got inside it, man, it was just a blast.
02:27I just felt like I was, you know, a puppeteer.
02:29It just felt like I was just operating this thing
02:31that was capable of going to places
02:33that I might not have been capable of going without it, you know?
02:44Gentlemen, it's so good to be with you.
02:46Paul, this might be a weird question,
02:47but I'm just curious if you were the one who wrote
02:50To the Batman on the Riddler's envelopes.
02:53No, I think we tried my handwriting.
02:56Uh, and the...
02:58So, the...
02:59James Chinlan, the production designer in his art department,
03:03they were just so killer on this movie.
03:06And also, Matt Reeves had put so much work into this movie.
03:09I mean, when I arrived to get there,
03:12I mean, there was tons of different iterations of cards, of journals.
03:17And then I got to have my input and have my voice.
03:19Uh, and so it was a really wonderful combination
03:22of a super specific, driven vision
03:26while everybody having room to bring their own artistry.
03:29But I don't think it's my handwriting, no.
03:32The Riddler is asking for you.
03:34The killer left this for the Batman.
03:36Why is he writing to you?
03:40Bruce Wayne.
03:48Bruce Wayne?
03:50I wouldn't be bothering you here,
03:51but your people keep telling me you're unavailable.
03:54Rob, over the course of the film,
03:55were you surprised at how little you had to play Bruce Wayne?
03:59It's funny, because you don't really realise when you first read the script.
04:04I mean, it's...
04:05It just didn't really register to me that...
04:08It's like, oh, wow, I'm Batman the whole time.
04:10And it's also...
04:11But I guess the easy...
04:13What made it easy, he hasn't really figured out
04:16where Bruce ends and where Batman begins at this point.
04:19And now at telling of the story.
04:21And so sometimes Bruce is seeping out of Batman.
04:25And there's a couple of scenes where I'm doing little subtle vocal changes.
04:30I mean, sometimes, it's incredibly subtle a lot of the time,
04:35but sometimes he's more in Bruce's register when he's Batman.
04:39Because he hasn't got full control over the delineation yet.
04:43So it actually kind of...
04:45It made it... It was a little challenge,
04:47but, yeah, kind of interesting.
04:49I don't think it had really been done.
04:50Normally, the only time you see Batman is before you get punched in the face.
04:56So that's kind of...
04:58So, yeah, to kind of... To play different shades was fun.
05:03Jeffrey, it was interesting to see Gordon take a punch from the Batman.
05:08What does it feel like to take a punch from the Batman?
05:10It was actually very convincing.
05:14Well, yeah, I mean, you know...
05:16Well, Gordon, obviously, well, without giving too much away,
05:22it's a part of a larger plan.
05:25And because I wanted to make it authentic
05:28and we were going for this grounded thing,
05:30I told Rob to really hit me, you know?
05:33And so he did, and, you know, it looks...
05:36That's why it looks so legit.
05:40Good moment.
05:41That's entirely untrue.
05:43Oh.
05:46To be surprised what even a good man is capable of.
05:50Mr. Turturro, I have to believe you're the only Batman cast member
05:54with a son who works at DC Comics.
05:55And so I want to know what his reaction was
05:58when he heard that you were playing Carmine
05:59and what questions you might have had for him
06:01or maybe what comics he handed you and said,
06:03read these.
06:05Amadeo gave me a bunch of the Frank Miller comics
06:08and, obviously, we discussed it at length.
06:12And he pointed me, Amadeo pointed me
06:17in very specific directions.
06:20So I wouldn't have done it without Amadeo's blessing.
06:26Has he seen your performance yet?
06:27Yeah, I'm really...
06:29And vote of confidence?
06:30Yeah, really.
06:32Good, very good. That's a tough review to give.
06:33Thumbs up, yes.
06:34I'm relieved and very happy, so yes.
06:37You got a lot of cats.
06:39I have a thing about strays.
06:41Zoe, it felt to me like Selina, the character,
06:44was giving a performance in almost every scene that she's in.
06:47And a lot of times, her specific movements
06:50mirrored the type of personality that she was trying to put forward.
06:53I was wondering if that's accurate,
06:54that you really felt like you were playing her differently
06:56from scene to scene.
06:57Yeah, I mean, I feel like, you know, Selina is a person,
07:00you know, she's a survivor.
07:02And in order to survive, you know,
07:03I think she knows that she has to kind of morph
07:06into what fits her environment,
07:07which is, you know, something that we tried to do
07:09with the different looks, the different wigs.
07:11You know, she acts and looks very different
07:13depending on if she's at work, if she's alone, if she's Batman.
07:17And, you know, I think, you know, one of the relationships,
07:20or one of the things that Matt wanted to base
07:22their relationship off of was Clute.
07:24And the thing that he really liked about it
07:25was that you really couldn't tell, you know,
07:28who she really was, what her real intention, you know, is.
07:32And so, yeah, she's just, she is this mystery
07:35to Batman specifically.
07:37I think that's part of her allure.
07:38Selina, don't throw your life away.
07:40Don't worry, honey. I got nine of them.
07:46I've been trying to reach you.
07:49Fire in the gun!
07:51Paul, the prison confrontation that eventually happens
07:54between you and the Batman is an instant all-timer.
07:58I just want to know how much time did you have
08:00to prep for that scene?
08:01Did you get several takes to go through it?
08:03Did you shoot it early on in the process,
08:05or was it something you all built towards?
08:07Uh, it was originally meant to be
08:09towards the very end of the shoot.
08:11And then we had to shut down production
08:13for about five months.
08:15Um, which I was, uh...
08:20sad about, partially because, frankly,
08:23that scene meant so much to me, and thanks for that,
08:25but that you're hoping for some accrual of energy
08:29over time going towards that destination.
08:33So, to have this break, uh, was interesting,
08:39but then we came back, and then it was early
08:43when we came back, and it was actually, like,
08:46because it was very isolated.
08:48Uh, we were one of the first major productions back.
08:51So, we actually started with a bunch of Riddler stuff
08:54because it was kind of isolated,
08:56and with the COVID stuff,
08:58we were kind of dipping our toes back in.
09:00Um, so, yeah.
09:03This is about a kick, and Riddler's to match.
09:06Ehh!
09:07I'm sorry, your answer must be in the form of a question,
09:10but thank you for playing.
09:12Colin, you worked with, uh, the great Joel Schumacher
09:14on Phone Booth shortly after he wrapped his Batman run.
09:17I was curious if he shared any war stories
09:19back in the day with you on his time in that franchise.
09:22No, we, um...
09:24Some war stories, yeah,
09:26but nothing that I don't think he shared publicly.
09:27I think that hurt him.
09:29I know his Batman films and how they were received
09:34really hurt him, because the only thing Joel, honest to God,
09:36ever went out to do was really to entertain people.
09:38There's actually an apology,
09:40I think you can find it on YouTube,
09:42that he makes, and it was really almost upsetting for me to see,
09:46because I care about the man so much,
09:47and he's such a wonderful man,
09:48and he was apologizing to the fandom if he...
09:51Because he knew...
09:52Joel knew how important this character was and is,
09:56just in the same way Matt does,
09:58but he just went down a route that people weren't too happy with.
10:00Um, Matt, you know, Matt...
10:03One of the most wonderful things about working with Matt
10:05was his reverence, again, and his integrity,
10:09and his desire to go back to grassroots
10:11and the world of seeing Batman as an incredible detective,
10:14as somebody who had a methodology
10:17and was just at home in the stillness of a crime scene
10:20as he was physically fighting crime on the streets, you know?
10:22So, um...
10:24Oh, yeah, Joel, he's gone on. God bless him.
10:27A man's gotta go his own way.
10:30A friend told me that.
10:31Jeffrey, when this movie ended,
10:34after three hours, I was legitimately pissed.
10:37I wanted to stay in this universe for three more hours
10:39and just soak in the atmosphere that Matt has created.
10:42I know they're gonna try to extend it
10:44with this Gotham PD HBO Max series.
10:46Are you part of that?
10:48Um...
10:49I'm, right now, just focused on getting this film out,
10:54um, and excited for fans to see.
10:58Is that a, like, is that a...
11:01Batman, the Bat-Signal and Starry Night kind of vibe?
11:04It is a Starry Night Batman T-shirt.
11:06That's super cool.
11:08That's super cool.
11:09Yeah. Super cool. I've never seen that before.
11:13I like the way that you changed the topic
11:16before I dug a little bit deeper into you.
11:17You're welcome.
11:18Joining the HBO Max series. Well done.
11:20How exciting is it to be able to continue Oz
11:22on the streaming service?
11:23Something that is new to the industry,
11:25but something that's becoming pretty prevalent.
11:27Oh, that's cool. Really exciting.
11:29Yeah. I mean, I just feel there's...
11:32You can just go anywhere with this character, really, you know, Oz.
11:34And, again, to...
11:37I feel like, pardon the pun, it was only the tip of the iceberg
11:39what I had the opportunity to do.
11:40I loved working on this film.
11:41I was so greedy.
11:43I wanted more to do.
11:44I was kind of a bit...
11:46You know, you can get miserable very quick
11:47when you're as spoiled as I've been over the years.
11:49And when I read the script for the Batman,
11:51the script was extraordinary,
11:52but I wanted more to do in it.
11:53And the fact that I might get the opportunity to do more is,
11:56you know, satisfies my greed,
11:58and that's, let's face it, what it's all about.
12:00Ah! I got you!
12:02Ha-ha! I got you!