Aaron Eckhart in The Dark Knight

How’s it going? How’s the day?

My day’s been easy so far; I expect it to get a little bit more Batman-ish in a moment. I’ve just gotten here to work. I’ll find out what we’re doing here.

What’s about to happen?

Um... I don’t know, really. I guess we’ll see. I haven’t been here, so I haven’t seen the whole layout here, but I’m gonna go find out a really crucial bit of information that’s going to lead to some crucial plot points (laughs). I’d like to be more general, but I don’t know if I can.

So you’re obviously attending the memorial service?

I am, yes. That we do know. I guess there’s a big service here, they have, like a thousand people downstairs or something. There are a lot of people. We’re memorialising our fallen officers, that I’m sure.

Does this film have the mystery element, the detective element to it that Harvey Dent’s involved in, to begin with as an ally of Bruce?

You know, I am the district attorney and therefore I am a crime fighter as well just as Batman is a crime fighter, and Lt. Gordon is a crime fighter, so I think that although we might not all tackle crime in the same way, I think we’re all going for the same end. And as probably all the divisions in the American legal system, or the CIA or FBI, they don’t always see eye to eye. So there might be a little bit of that. In terms of a cop thing, yeah... I think there are police going after criminals and I think that it’s a huge part of the movie, obviously.

Did you go back to the performances of Billy Dee Williams and Tommy Lee Jones?

I did not. The last time I saw those, I was in... whatever I wore to school. This is quite a great script and quite a great character; all of the characters in this movie are really great. I think this is going to be a breakout Batman. I think this is going to surprise a lot of people. It’s so different... Different actors are playing characters differently from their predecessors, so it really has no connection with the past. It is the same studio, and it is Batman, but I think it almost ends there.

How did you prepare?

Ancient Chinese secret. I just do my thing and I continue to do it every day. I don’t know that I can discuss how I do that as much as I can discuss about Batman... I don’t know. I just learn my lines and hit my marks.

Did you go to the real DA’s office? Or did you just watch Law & Order?

No, I think as Gary Oldman says, it’s all in the script. And I feel pretty comfortable with the script. It is so well-written and it is pretty self-explanatory. I have my own methodology of what I do and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. So I don’t know... I hate to talk about it right before I go do a scene; it’s probably not the best thing for me to do.

How did you handle the part of Two-Face?

Well, Two-Face, as it’s well known in the comic books, is an angry guy (laughs). You know... I think it’s just dialling into that... something that would happen to you in that way. He’s lost everything that ever meant anything to him. Which is love. And he can’t get it back, and he’s done it because maybe people haven’t been doing their jobs. And I think that’s a lot of where his anger comes from. He thinks it could’ve been avoided and so I think he is hurting, he’s got a lot of anger and resentment, all those very human emotions.

Do you have to go back and forth a lot in the film between the two characters?

They usually give me a lunch break, but yeah (laughs) The filming schedule really cannot be based on anybody’s preference, so one day you could be Harvey Dent, DA and another you could be Two-Face for sure. I think that talking about preparation stuff — and having done movies for a while — you get used to it, it’s not a problem, I mean... to illustrate it, I could be walking down the street very happy, or somebody could and then something could happen and you could get enraged in a nanosecond, so I think we have the ability to do that.

When you read the script, what were you looking forward to being able to do as this character?

When I read this script, I was looking for a character, I was hoping for a character. I had met with Chris, and he then allowed me to read the script. And it was my great desire that I would read this script and be happy. As opposed to read the script and have to con myself into liking the part. I can’t say enough how great everybody’s role in this movie is. Down to Gary and Morgan and me, and Heath has an amazing role. Everybody gets to act in the movie, everybody has an arc, as they say, or has something to do in the movie. So I was thrilled when I read it, and I had to ask again if they were gonna offer it to me! (Laughs). Because when I read it, I wasn’t sure I had the part! But I’m glad I’m a part of it, really, really happy. And to have worked with people that I admire so much. I get to work a lot with Gary Oldman in the movie.

Has Two-Face been aesthetically re-invented in the movie?

Oh, yeah... That’s a great picture (gestures). Uh... I don’t know... He’s pretty straightforward. The coin’s there. One thing that I personally believe in is you ought to give the people what they want. And that’s a character that they know, and they’re used to. Now, you can endure different degrees of how you do that and passion, but I feel like, if you go to a concert, you want the guys to play the songs that you know. You don’t want them to play songs in a different way. That’s not to say that they’re not going to be exciting and enthused with new energy or passion or a different way of doing things, but I think the fundamentals are there.

Do you act differently when you are hiding under a mask?

I think that as actors will tell you, everything helps. If you have an impediment or if you have something on your face, or you’re carrying a load, or you gain weight for a part, or whatever, you can’t help but act differently. So yes it does. It just puts you immediately into that mindset. I’m sure that when Heath puts on his makeup he goes to a place... It’s also in the preparation of putting on that makeup and getting... when you’re looking in the mirror in makeup and it takes a long time to put it on, and all this... that you use that time to channel that energy, and that’s where a lot of that (clicks fingers) flipping on the anger, boom, boom, boom... Once you get into your clothes and your character...