Bale Begins Anew With Nolan's 'Prestige'

Judging from its critical and box office reception, there's no question that the dynamic duo of actor Christian Bale and writer-director Christopher Nolan redefined the legendary character of The Dark Knight with "Batman Begins."

But with that success came the inevitable challenge of meeting, if not exceeding, expectations for their next film -- and it wasn't even a "Batman" sequel. Ratcheting up the stakes, Bale said that he had to find a way to effectively redefine himself not only for audiences -- but for Nolan -- for the dramatic thriller "The Prestige."

"Since we worked together so well on 'Batman,' the only hurdle was, 'Is Chris going to see me anything but Bruce Wayne?' That was tricky," Bale told me in a recent @ The Movies interview. "Fortunately, he was very easily convinced. I made a couple of calls to him and he said, 'All right, let's do it.'"

In the film, opening Friday, Bale plays Alfred Borden, an intense, mysterious magician who, after a tragedy, finds himself at odds with fellow magic man Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman). But as time marches on, the rivalry to one-up one another becomes an obsession, and the outcome could be deadly. The film co-stars Bale's "Batman Begins" co-star Michael Caine, as well as Scarlett Johansson, David Bowie, Andy Serkis and Piper Perabo.

Nolan said it didn't take much to convince him to cast Bale, because the filmmaker could see the actor's performance through the Batman costume.

"He impressed mightily in 'Batman Begins' because that was a very tough character and he was working in very difficult circumstances," Nolan told me in a recent @ The Movies interview. "It was a very technical movie and he had to worry about working in the costume and be in car chases and explosions and everything."

But that's not say that Nolan wasn't excited about Bale turning in his cowl and cape to see him, well, work his magic.

"It was really great fun to get Christian in an arena where the acting was everything," Nolan said. "We used lighting setups where we didn't have marks so the actors could wander around freely and be a bit more spontaneous and looser with things. It was tremendous to watch him take that opportunity and just run with it. He's an extraordinary performer. The layers he's put into the performance are just thrilling."

Tricky Proposition
"The Prestige" showcases two dramatically different characters. The brooding Borden is clearly the better magician of the two, but he lacks stage presence. On the flip side, the flamboyant Angier is the consummate showman who, despite his inadequacies, can sell a trick to an audience.

And while neither part was written for the actors (Nolan actually began work on "The Prestige" before "Batman Begins"), Bale felt that the pieces fell perfectly into place for him and Jackman -- a natural-born showman.

"I wasn't sent the script to consider one part or the other, but once I read the script, I knew I wanted to do Borden instantly. I gravitated to him because of the secrecies of his past, I liked the genuine goodness that I saw in him despite the fact that he is ruining everybody else around him and causing great pain," Bale said. "And I liked the notion of the secrecy that is essential for him for his livelihood as a magician, but also for his life -- he's unable break that secret code, not even with the woman that he's genuinely in love with. It's taking that magic code of secrecy that he lives with to an excessive level."

The interesting thing about "The Prestige" is that, while the film itself is structured like a magic trick, the tricks in the film are secondary to the plot.

"Chris felt that magic tricks on film were obsolete because of editing. They can't be impressive to anybody any longer because of it," Bale explained. "What we did do was minimal, because it's not necessarily a movie about magic tricks.

But at the heart of the film, one trick, "The Transported Man," is necessary to drive the twists and turns of the plot.

"That's the particular trick that escalates this rivalry because it is so astounding that other magicians including Angier cannot fathom how it's even possible," Bale said. "We didn't want it to be a movie about being wowed by our magic tricks. It's a piece about being wowed by a rivalry and how far people will go."

Still, to make their characters believable, Bale and Jackman were trained by professional magicians to learn the moves -- and the both actors found the trade fascinating. But between sleight of hand magic and mechanical magic -- where apparatuses are used -- Bale said he does have a preference.

"Mechanical magic is all about showmanship. It's an engineering feat more than a magical feat, and it was always incredibly disappointing to find out how it was done," Bale said. "Sleight of hand was more impressive when I found out how it was done. You knew the commitment that was necessary to achieve that level of dexterity and competence with it, and the more that I was told how it was done, I still found it unbelievable -- and just as incredible."

Bale said that he's excited to be teaming with Nolan again on the hotly anticipated Batman sequel, "The Dark Knight," pegged for a 2008 release. And while he looks forward to working with the talented filmmaker for a third time, he said that he's also open to any possibilities after that, including working with first-time filmmakers.

"It would be great that if everything turned out as well as they do working with Chris, but I like to mix it up as well -- I like new experiences and I like risks," Bale said. "You always have to remember that Chris was a first-timer at one point, and you've always got to consider taking risks with first-timers because they may end up being the greatest moviemakers of their generation. I like that possibility."