Christian Bale Thinks That Heath Ledger Ruined All His Plans for 'The Dark Knight'

It's been almost eight years since the release of Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, but the fans of this cinematic experience still consider the Joker, portrayed by Heath Ledger, as one of the finest antagonists of all time. However, Christian Bale, who played film's hero, Bruce Wayne aka Batman, thinks that Ledger ruined all of his plans as an actor.

Bale, who was last seen in the Academy nominated film, The Big Short, is currently promoting his new film, Knight of Cups. During the promotional events, Bale opened his heart to Yahoo! about the acting goals he set for himself when he started working on The Dark Knight.

"I didn't quite manage what I hoped I would through the trilogy, [Director Nolan] did, but my own sense of self is like, 'I didn't quite nail it.' "

While shooting the film, Bale thought of Batman as a very dark and a messed-up character and after wearing the costume, he wanted to do all sort of monstrous things which his costume or character demanded, but this did not go according to his plans.

"Heath turned up and just kind of completely ruined all my plans, I went, 'He's so much more interesting than me and what I'm doing.'"

Ledger was found dead in his Manhattan apartment on Jan. 22, 2008, some months after the shooting of The Dark Knight. To get under the skin of the Joker, Ledger took many combinations of prescribed drugs. In an interview with the Empire, Ledger stated that he locked himself in a hotel room in London for an about a month and experimented with his voice.

"It was important to try to find somewhat iconic voice and laugh. I ended up landing more in the realm of a psychopath - someone with very little to no conscience towards his acts. He's just an absolute sociopath, a cold-blooded, mass-murdering clown," Ledger said.

Ledger was awarded posthumously awarded Best Supporting Actor from Academy in 2008.

via GIPHY

The Bat-mania that started with Batman Begins has not died since the end of the trilogy in 2012. The latest film, starring Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, is set to release on March 25, 2016.