Robert Pattinson Says Batman Voice Inspired by Willem Dafoe in ‘The Lighthouse’

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Anyone hoping to get a sense of what to expect in Matt Reeves’ 2021 comic book tentpole “The Batman” might want to buy a ticket to “The Lighthouse,” Robert Eggers’ new film that broke out at the specialty box office last weekend. In a video interview with “Access Hollywood” (via EW), upcoming Batman actor Robert Pattinson says the voice of his co-star Willem Dafoe in “The Lighthouse” influenced his voice as the Caped Crusader. The Batman voice is a defining characteristic of the superhero (see Christian Bale’s growly whisper in Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” trilogy), and Pattinson couldn’t pick a better source of inspiration than Dafoe’s growl.

“Willem’s voice in [‘The Lighthouse’] was quite inspiring for it, to be honest,” Pattinson responded when asked about his Batman voice. “It is pretty similar, the voice I’m gonna do, to Willem’s.”

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Pattinson’s “The Batman” is not expected to be an origin story, so it made sense for the actor to adopt a weary and grizzled voice like Dafoe’s in order to show he’s already well into his life of super-heroism. Pattinson Batman will face off against Paul Dano’s The Riddler and Zoe Kravitz’s Catwoman. Both actors were cast in “The Batman” this month, while Reeves recently confirmed that regular collaborator Michael Giacchino will be composing the original score.

Pattinson broke his silence about playing Bruce Wayne/Batman in an interview with Variety last month. “It’s maybe the craziest thing I’ve ever done in terms of movie stuff,” the actor said about trying on the Batman suit. “I put it on. I remember saying to Matt, ‘It does feel quite transformative!’ He was like, ‘I would hope it does! You’re literally in the Batsuit.’”

Pattinson continued, “You do feel very powerful immediately. And it’s pretty astonishing, something that is incredibly difficult to get into, so the ritual of getting into it is pretty humiliating. You’ve got five people trying to shove you into something. Once you’ve got it on, it’s like, ‘Yeah, I feel strong, I feel tough, even though I had to have someone squeezing my butt cheeks into the legs.’”

Warner Bros has set a June 25, 2021 release date for “The Batman.”

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