Paul Dano has spoken up about how important Nirvana’s ‘Something In The Way’ was to creating The Riddler in the new film The Batman.
“What’s black and blue, and dead all over?” asks Dano, in the film. “YOU.”
Speaking with NME, Paul Dano has gone into great detail about creating his haunting version of The Riddler.
“I was probably asked if I’d wanted to do a comic book film for a long time and was like ‘Yeah, sure!’”
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“There have been [comic book] films that I’ve really loved – the Tim Burton/Michael Keaton Batman I loved… I think I was hoping and waiting for the right opportunity… I feel very lucky… and very fortunate that it’s Batman.”
In forming the character, the actor speaks specifically about the role of music and Nirvana’s special part in that.
“In the script [the director] had mentioned ‘Something In The Way’ by Nirvana. So right there, that song, those words, that refrain, became hugely important to me. Nirvana became a part of [The Riddler].”
“There’s almost a sort of irony there. It’s this big American horn sound, and The Riddler is playing on that.”
If you’ve managed to see the phenomenal film, you would appreciate the intensity of Dano’s Riddler and the difficulty of getting into the mind of such an individual.
“It’s a bit hard to come down from,” says Dano. “But I think of it a bit like an athlete… [Riddler] is not my life speed. So I’m working at a different speed to embody someone different.”
Working on such a film has propelled Dano into a new stratosphere of fame. However, he stays humble, stating it wasn’t “a motivating force… That part of the job is a little strange, frankely, right? It just is”… Fans are “so passionate. It’s actually been really fun to see the fervour around this.”
You can see Dano as The Riddler in The Batman, now in cinemas.
Check out his terrifying performance below!
