Aaron Eckhart Confirms Two-Face and Two Performances in Dark Knight

[Brian Damage]

WIZARD: Director Christopher Nolan said he saw Two-Face and Harvey Dent as the backbone of “Dark Knight.” Did you draw inspiration from the comics or the older movies?
ECKHART: Chris [Nolan] comes at this with such a different take on Batman, so I didn’t feel that I had to be true to any other actor playing this role. Of course, I read the comic books. His relationships with Lt. Gordon and with Batman, with Gotham City, those really helped me the most.

There are a lot of different ways that you could go with the Two-Face performance, though. In the cartoons he was kind of a cold-hearted gangster and Tommy Lee Jones played him as a straight-up madman. Where will you take it when the film opens July 18?
I believe that it’s stronger if you have a heart. If you can relate to a character who’s a villain, or not, it’s always better. If I can help you to relate to my character, then I think that I’m more likely to keep your attention.

In terms of the heart of the character, Harvey has gone through a large arc. Will we be seeing Harvey’s full arc here or will it play out in, say, another movie?
I think with the other [films], you’re looking at the climax of a character’s arc. Where does he go after that? I think that right now we’re showing who Harvey was before he was scarred, and it’s an interesting role that he plays. We’re looking at Gotham City trying to get out of its darkness. That’s why Harvey is important.

Does Harvey get scarred in this movie or will we have to wait until the next one to see that?
Harvey Dent turns into Harvey Two-Face in this movie. So that answers your question better. [Laughs]

Have you filmed a lot of scenes in makeup?
I have done scenes as Harvey Two-Face. It’s interesting. I won’t tell you exactly what we’re going for, but I think that I can say that it will use all of today’s technology to create this character. He’s going to be interesting, and I think that’s what makes this character important in the movie—you get to see him as he was before, as in the comic books. Harvey is a very good guy in the comic books. He’s judicious. He cares. He’s passionate about what he loves and then he turns into this character. So you will see that in this film.

Obviously, Two-Face is a split personality. How did you approach playing two personalities?
I just talk to my other selves. [Laughs] I think that it’s interesting about human behavior that under certain circumstances, in one minute you can believe in one thing, and then the world can change and you believe in another thing. I think that Harvey is not such a bad person. He does bad things. I [just] think that it’s important that you know that he didn’t become Harvey Two-Face in a vacuum.

There are circumstances that create the darker side of his personality…
It’s interesting to show that there are reasons for his behavior. It depends on which [of Harvey’s personalities] you think is more attractive and exciting. Obviously a guy who goes out and murders people, that’s vigilante justice. It’s probably more cinematically exciting, but I think that knowing why he got there and that he was a cool dude before is important, as well.

Are you saying you see Two-Face as more of a vigilante in this as opposed to his classic portrayal as a bank-robbing, blowing sh-- up kind of thug?
Well, I mean, in terms of villains and movies, in anyone’s motivation in a movie you’re always trying to improve your lot in life and to exact your own code in life and I think that Harvey Two-Face has a code, and his code is killing people for reasons that…will remain secret.

How do you draw on your own experiences to portray the psychopathic side of Two-Face?
It’s the code of saying, “How can I justify this? In what circumstances would I go kill someone?” Obviously I haven’t killed anyone, but you have to make that as real as possible for yourself and if you can’t make it real, you put it in imaginary circumstances. That’s where the fire comes from.

Has it been weird getting accustomed to the fact that you’re in a “Batman” film?
The responsibility of being in “Batman” is pretty big! The daunting thing really is working with Gary Oldman and Michael Caine. Not so much daunting as much as pretty big for me because I love to act. I respect actors. I respect those actors in particular, but …how many lives has Batman touched? That is daunting.

What’s the coolest Bat-gadget you’ve seen so far for the movie? Anything blow your mind?
Well, the iPhone. [Laughs] I wish that they would give me one.

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