Paul Dano (Little Miss Sunshine, There Will Be Blood, Love & Mercy) is appearing in Matt Reeves’ highly-anticipated film The Batman as the classic villain The Riddler. This was pretty genius casting as Dano steals the show in every film he’s in. He’s an incredibly talented dramatic actor, and I’m so excited to see him take on this role in the dark and gritty film. But he had his work cut out for him as he took on the role that has been portrayed by the larger-than-life Jim Carrey.
Talking about making the role his own, and even revealing his love for Jim Carrey, Dano explained at a press conference (via GamesRadar+):
“I will say that Jim Carrey was one of my favorite actors growing up, I was obsessed with Jim Carrey in late elementary school. Luckily Matt [Reeves, director] gave us the keys with the script. I think, take the energy that’s there – I do think that this stuff has energy in it. It’s been around in the culture for a reason. So I didn’t have to really think about any other villain’s work, but unconsciously I’m sure it informed me somehow.
“Those performances are indelible to me, so somehow I’m sure something is informed by something, but I think the key to making it your own, or finding a singular approach, is just to make it as personal and emotional as possible. And I don’t mean this in an egotistical way, but at the end of the day, it’s what you have to offer this character is probably where the real juice is, so you can’t really go where others have gone.”
It’s clear from what we’ve seen of the movie so far that we were not going to get the cartoony take on Batman’s nemeses that we’ve seen in the past. It’s cool that this film is based so firmly in a world that feels real, and we are going to get a portrayal of the characters that is different from what we’ve seen before.
And now we only have days to wait. The Batman will be released in theaters this Friday, March 4th.