And the fact it was all a distraction ploy also emphasizes his character's cunning, adding further layers to his portrayal and the scene itself. Once Joker shoots him, it's revealed that Wayne hid a metal tray under his shirt which stopped the bullet and allowed him to escape.Īs Les Daniels noted, the scene has "layers of irony and introspection," but Keaton undoubtedly added so much by giving us a brief glimpse at what lies beneath Bruce Wayne's mask. That's all before Keaton's changes, which, as the actor put it, involved Bruce Wayne, "using a kind of psychological ploy," where it seems as if he's given in to his anger. So I actually kind of rewrote that scene." The rewrite involved a startling outburst from Wayne, who suddenly matches the manic energy of Nicholson's Clown Prince of Crime when he smashes a vase and explodes with the line "You wanna get nuts? Let's get nuts!"īut in the scene that was shot, not only do we get a monologue from Wayne which reveals he's familiar with Joker's background as mobster Jack Napier, Wayne actually learns Joker is the one who killed his parents, after Nicholson delivers the "Have you ever danced with the Devil in the pale moonlight?" line. I wanted to show you that, with all that flamboyance around me, if need be, I could come up to it. The actor continued, "At that point I needed to show another color. Suddenly, he was caught off-guard, facing the homicidal Jack Napier without any of his body armor or, "wonderful toys."įor Keaton, this was the perfect opportunity to display some of Bruce Wayne's repressed rage and mental imbalance, which had attracted him to the role in the first place. He recounted the shoot in Les Daniels' "Batman: the complete history", explaining how, "Part of Bruce Wayne and Batman was a little crazy, but you hadn't seen it because I decided to play it very contained." Up until that point in the film, Keaton's hero had only confronted Joker as his superhero alter ego. Further proof of the Oscar nominees' commitment to that vision came once Joel Schumacher took over the Batman saga and planned to lighten things up with 1995's "Batman Forever," prompting Keaton to quickly walk away from Batman.įor the scene where Joker descends upon Vale's apartment, only to find Wayne along with her, Keaton suggested another change. Who's that guy? What kind of person does that?" In Keaton's view, the kind of person who dresses up as a Bat was seriously psychologically unstable, which added to the darkness that was so central to his and Burton's vision. Mom" and "Night Shift," had proven he had dramatic chops with 1988's "Clean And Sober." But with Batman, he would push that further, displaying a talent for tasteful restraint by portraying Bruce Wayne as a brooding, taciturn loner while conveying a genuine sense of instability just below the surface.Īs Keaton told In The Envelope: The Actor's Podcast, "I know the name of the movie is 'Batman' and it's hugely iconic and very cool and culturally iconic from a character perspective it's about Bruce Wayne. Keaton, who broke through in the early-'80s with family-friendly comedies such as "Mr. The "Birdman" actor has spoken about finding the key to his performance in Bruce Wayne, not Batman. But what's not necessarily as well-known is that Michael Keaton was completely aligned with Burton's grim vision of the Dark Knight.
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