http://www.darkhorizons.com/news07/070714a.php


Question: But in that movie you're hidden under makeup though right? So how does that work?

Eckhart: Well I will only say that in Batman I am both Harvey Dent and Harvey Two-Face.

Question: And you're playing the same character that was once played by somebody else.

Eckhart: Yeah.

Question: That must be pretty tricky.

Eckhart: Well I see no connection between the two. And I've not had any discussions about that. That's one thing about movies. What somebody else did is what somebody else did. In soap operas you're willing to believe that a character can come back to life. Basically, you just want that guy on screen. You don't care what happened before. It's like balance. I mean J.R. could come back today and nobody would care. I mean nobody would care about the logistics of him coming back. So I don't think people are going to get hung up on my performance versus Tommy Lee's. It's just two different things.

Question: Well the fun of Dark Knight is the fact that there's this duality that you have to portray ...

Eckhart: Definitely.

Question: ... which must be the hook for you as an actor.

Eckhart: Well there's several hooks for me, none of which I can talk about, but I will say that I like the character. I like playing this guy. This guy has likeable attributes, characteristics. And it really, as in this whole Batman going through it, it's really a mirror of our times in a lot of ways. It's a comment on what's going on in the world today. And my character fits into that really nicely. And everybody's character does from Lieutenant Gordon to the Joker. I guess Batman is just trying to make sense of what's going on and trying to fight a fight that maybe he doesn't totally understand.

Question: And the makeup is not too much of a pain in the ass?

Eckhart: No all that stuff helps - everything helps an actor.

Question: And with Batman are you prepared to face the onslaught of the comic book fans that are going to be scrutinising every facet of this?

Eckhart: I don't think I understand what this entails.

Question: Good luck. That's all I can say.

Eckhart: That's what I've been hearing.

Question: I'll see you at Comic con next year and you'll be 'Oh my god, what have I let myself in for?'

Eckhart: They didn't pay me enough.

Question: Enjoy it while you can.

Eckhart: I will, I will. I can't imagine. But you know what, I'm there with veterans, you know. I mean Christian's been through it and Chris and I think Heath is going to take the brunt of it. Let me tell you. Heath is going to be spectacular in this movie.

Question: You've seen him in the makeup?

Eckhart: Yeah. Heath is going to be amazing.

Question: What about being on a Chris Nolan set?

Eckhart: More so than ever with Chris is that it feels like he's just making a movie with the family, because everybody stays on set. It's very mellow, he works with the same people all the time. So it's very familiar.