Bale reflects on years as Dark Knight

The Dark Knight rises in Irish cinemas this Friday on the wings of huge anticipation for the final film of director Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, but there is one man who remains calm in the face of the media hype: Batman actor Christian Bale.

Bale slips into the bat costume of Gotham City’s crime-fighting superhero for the last time in The Dark Knight Rises, which like its predecessors has received strong early reviews.

Chosen by British director Nolan for his franchise reboot, which soared with 2005’s Batman Begins, Bale’s stone-faced portrayal of conflicted billionaire Bruce Wayne, aka Batman, was key to the movie’s success.