Tim Burton had trouble understanding Jack Nicholson during ‘Batman’
Director Tim Burton has recently shared that he could not distinguish many of actor Jack Nicholson’s lines while filming the 1989 comic book cult-classic Batman.
Speaking to Empire, the Edward Scissorhands director revealed that Nicholson’s “abstract way” of speaking made communication a challenge on set. According to the filmmaker, the star, who played the Joker, sounded so incomprehensible that Burton would ask other crew members, “what the fuck was he just talking about?”
“Jack has a very abstract way of speaking,” Burton revealed. “So he would say things to me, and I’d go, ‘Yeah, I get it,’ and then I’d go to someone, ‘What the fuck was he just talking about?’ So, there was this weird communication: non-linear, non-connective. But it was very clear to me. I felt like we had a good sort of caveman-style communication.”
The two still build a supportive relationship on set. “[Nicholson] protected me and nurtured me, kept me going, by just not getting too overwhelmed with the whole thing,” Burton shared. I felt really supported by him in a very deep way. I was young and dealing with a big studio, and he just quietly gave me the confidence to do what I needed to do. And him being a voice of support had a lot of resonance with the studio. It got me through the whole thing. It gave me strength.”
Nicholson starred alongside Michael Keaton, who donned the Dark Knight’s costume in Burton’s global hit. Batman also saw one of the earliest collaborations between the director and composer Danny Elfman. The two would go on to work together on Edward Scissorhands, Alice in Wonderland and Netflix’s Wednesday.
The composer discussed his time working on the DC comics film with NME: “When Batman came out, I was composing to a cut that was so dark on the video I could barely even tell what was happening half the time. I thought, ‘This is going to be a little cult film at best.’ So the fact that it was a big hit, that shocked and surprised me. I’m surprised every time I have anything happen that’s successful.”
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