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The "new" Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal) must deal with sinister jokers in THE DARK KNIGHT(2008).
© Warner Bros.

Maggie Gyllenhaal Talks Dawes in DARK KNIGHT

By: Jarrod Sarafin, News Editor
Date: Monday, January 07, 2008
Source: Metro.co.uk

While talking to Metro.co.uk, actress Maggie Gyllenhaal did field one question for her approach on taking over the Rachel Dawes character in The Dark Knight.

Is your Batman character a damsel in distress?

There are moments of that. Chris Nolan, the director, would joke about how I had to resign myself to being a little bit of a damsel in distress but he pushed me in other ways to make her a powerful character. I play a lawyer and have real relationships with the people I'm interacting with in the movie. She's very smart and a real rounded person. Of course, if you're the girl in Batman, you're going to be a damsel in distress to some extent but she's a really great character. So many people I play are a mess; Rachel's really clear about what's important to her and unwilling to compromise her morals, which made a nice change.

She will be starring alongside Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman. The sequel was written by brothers Johnathan and Christopher Nolan with Chris once again behind-the-camera in the director's chair. Production has wrapped while post-production is still under way for WB.

To check out the trailer, click here.

The Dark Knight will hit theaters July 18, 2008.

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Comments/Responses

Merin • Jan 07, 2008, 01:19am •

Just look at that cast listing.
20 years ago would anyone have thought such a star-studded cast would be used for a super-hero movie?

DarkJedi • Jan 07, 2008, 01:46am •

Not me, no. And that's just the headliners..There's a few semi-decent ones also thrown into the smaller roles as well.

Heh, I believe (and hope) this film will kick ass.

It's going to be a strange year for comic films. A superhero movie led by Robert Downey Jr? A superhero movie led by Edward Norton? The same led by Bale, Heath Ledger and Aaron Eckhart?

Crazy year for comic fans...

drvertigo • Jan 07, 2008, 02:28am •

Merin, I don't think it's a good thing to have such big actors in the supporting roles personally. This really bugged me in Begins.
Two problems: firstly, whenever you cast a well-known actor in a role, you think "oh look, it's Michael Caine" instead of "oh it's Alfred, Bruce Wayne's kind retainer". Skilled actors can make you forget that and draw you more into the character, but it requires more screen time than most of these guys are given.
Second problem, phenomenal, world-class actors are wasted with minutes of screentime that don't even stretch into double-digits. It's frustrating, when you think back to Gary Oldman playing one of the best-ever Draculas not so very long ago.

madmanic999 • Jan 07, 2008, 02:31am •

It just shows how the genre is evolving. The comic to movie franchise is the real deal now. But studios seem to be maturing in that they are making an effort to get the end product right, and allow very creative and talented people behind the projects. This is most likely because now that comic movies have saturated the market, they've realized that sticking a costume on just anyone, with a script by someone who doesn't care about the source material won't work anymore. At least i hope that is the case for 2008, because I would love for Ironman, DK, and Hulk to all be awesome... if they are we all win.

ponyboy76 • Jan 07, 2008, 03:20am •

Haha, madmanic999, you should maybe talk to DC/WB about that because look at what they are doing to JLA in terms of possible actors. They are just throwing in just anybody into these costumes.
Anyway, its is crazy to think how years ago, they had people like Dolph Lungren playing the Punisher and now have pretty much a-list quality actors in these super hero roles. If that doesn`t say something about the genre I don`t know what does. What is pretty ironic to me is the superhero movies are finally on the right track, but the source material is so screwed up and twisted these days (One More Day, Civil War)
I don`t think having actors like Caine, Freeman and Oldman, take away from these supporting roles. If anything it brings a real sense of quality to them.
I love me some Maggie Gyllenhaal. Not only can she act, but there is just something really hot about her.

TayDor • Jan 07, 2008, 05:12am •

Thing with Oldman tho is, sure..you see him on screen and say, "hey, that's Gary Oldman." But then 2 seconds later, Oldman has dissapeared and all you see is whatever character he happens to be playing.

hanso • Jan 07, 2008, 05:58am •

I think the Batman franchise has always had good casts, well the first 2 anyways, then it became about big name Hollywood actors.
Obviously not as good as the recent Bat flicks but definitely better than the Cap America, Spiderman, Superman casts we had back in the day.

Todd89 • Jan 07, 2008, 07:26am •

the age of any actor means something to me, Toby who did the Spiderman films was slightly to old for the part. I thought at first that it would be a teenager since Peter was in high School for four years. The character was spiderman for at least three of those years.
When are we going to get to see another Dare Devil film, sure hope it doesn't have Ben in it if ever done. Electra was good but not sound, Jen did a good jpb but not awesome. These two need to be corrected badly. Though I agree with most of you why have big names in them, okay I get the point but could they at least be them selves in these films.

MrJawbreakingEquilibrium • Jan 07, 2008, 07:30am •

Doesn't really make any sense to say that when you watch a movie with a big name actor you go, "Oh, look it's...". Because when did they become themselves again, too you. I've never seen Gary Oldman in a role, for example, or anyone really unless they suck, and go "Oh, it's..." Well, that's not true...there are actors...cofff-Jack Nicholson-coff...who play the same "character" (themselves) in every role they play. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I'll agree with you when it comes to that. But actors like Oldman, Depp, Bale, etc. they all play pretty much diverse characters and not a carictature of themselves and don't even think about who they are anymore. You know?

jdnobody • Jan 07, 2008, 07:56am •

Am I the only person who has a problem with Gyllenhall replacing a pointless character? I'm not saying she shouldn't be in the film, give her another strong female character (maybe Talia and have another tie-in to the first film as well as...wait for it...a character who is actually in the books) If they want Batman to have a love interest so bad why not use that character?

Maybe I'm just still bitter about the fact that in every single Batman film he tells somebody his secret identity. Good thing it's a secret....I don't know

JD
www.moviesfornobodies.com

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