The Dark Knight Trilogy: 18 Cool Behind-The-Scenes Details You Didn't Know

9. Christian Bale Was Cast Before A Script Had Been Written

Christian Bale Batman Begins
Warner Bros.

The script is normally one of the very first things to be completed on a project. Those are your instructions, your blueprints, influencing every single decision - both big and small - throughout the rest of production.

In addition, the script is often shown to actors to convince them to sign on the dotted line, but during preparations for Batman Begins, this wasn't the case.

Instead, Nolan went out to cast the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne - which eventually went to Christian Bale - before the script had been written:

"We knew we needed Batman first. That was always the key... and we did that before we even had a script."

In addition, Bale was the very first actor that Nolan met with to discuss the project, despite Nolan going on to chat with (and screen test) many more potential leading men.

Contributor
Contributor

Danny has been with WhatCulture for over ten years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. In 2022, he took charge of WhoCulture and has grown it into the biggest Doctor Who channel on YouTube, and one of the biggest Doctor Who communities on the web full-stop. He has been writing and video editing since his early teens, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers, off the back of a burning obsession with the Matt Smith era of the show. Like many his age, he first got into Doctor Who with the 2005 revival, but has since gone back and fallen in love with the classic years too. If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order, or to give you a random factoid about the making of Gridlock, Danny is the person to ask!