Here's What Pattinson Really Thinks Of Bale's Controversial Batman Voice
Every cinematic Batman has had some version of "The Batman Voice" – a low, raspy growl meant to hide his identity and strike fear in his enemies.
The latest Batman, Robert Pattinson, recently commented on the most extreme Batman Voice we've yet heard – Christian Bale 's.
Bale's voice was more of a guttural growl, a deep and throaty snarl that caused facial contortions. In some ways, this was the most iconic Batman Voice. Unfortunately, it was also really difficult to understand.
One of the biggest complaints of 2012's The Dark Knight Rises was that the audience just couldn't understand what its two main stars were saying. Bale was growling every line, while Tom Hardy 's Bane had an equally quotable voice strained through a mask.
Pattinson said that Bale's Batman Voice was "iconic" before speaking about the difficulties in performing in that voice. He said it's really hard to speak in that "artificially lower register," especially in a dialogue-driven film like The Batman.
While Christopher Nolan 's Dark Knight was revered for its script, Pattinson said The Batman was "quite unique" with its long stretches of dialogue. The Batman was much slower-paced than the Dark Knight, leading to long stretches of dialogue in which Pattinson was forced to carry entire conversations in the Batman Voice.
He described the difficulty in trying to find nuance in his acting while using that voice, chuckling as he said, "It's really hard."
Despite the difficulty in using that voice, Pattinson said it's "almost impossible" to act as Batman and not use his voice. Even for fans, if they're going to quote an iconic Batman line, they can't help but mimic his deep growl.
When playing Bruce Wayne, Pattinson used the same voice he uses when playing American characters, just a little more slowly and thoughtfully. When he suited up as Batman, he went lower and added a slight rasp – but the voice still sounded like Pattinson. Bale's version was unrecognizable from his regular speaking voice.
When Pattinson was cast as the newest Bruce Wayne, it was controversial. Most fans knew him simply as the Twilight actor and couldn't see him in the role. It was similar to Heath Ledger's casting as the Joker in The Dark Knight over a decade before; fans knew Ledger from cheesy romcoms and little else.
Like Ledger, Pattinson won the fans over by the time the credits rolled. He was nominated for several awards for his performance, though nothing that compared to Ledger's Oscar.