Any actor stepping into the role of Batman must contend with the grand tradition of “the Batman voice,” from Michael Keaton‘s soft-yet-forceful pronouncements to Christian Bale‘s gravelly whisper-growl. And it sounds like The Batman star Robert Pattinson already has his approach figured out — with a rather unexpected source of inspiration.
In an interview with Access Hollywood (which you can watch above), Pattinson, when asked if he’s practiced his Batman voice, reveals that his The Lighthouse costar Willem Dafoe inspired his take on the hero’s vocal stylings. “Willem’s voice in [The Lighthouse] was quite inspiring for it, to be honest,” he says. “It is pretty similar, the voice I’m gonna do, to Willem’s.” He then offers a playful growl as a demonstration, which may or may not be at all in line with the voice he’ll actually do.
If you’ve seen The Lighthouse, you’ll know Dafoe’s voice in the film is more Captain Ahab than Caped Crusader, but it does possess the sort of gritty gravitas required for the role. “I think Batman has a sort of pirate-y kind of voice. I think they’re really suited,” Pattinson says. (It’s worth noting here that Pirate Batman is very much a real thing, and if that’s where director Matt Reeves is planning to take this new film, we’d like to be the first to voice our support.)
The Lighthouse is in theaters now, and The Batman, also starring Paul Dano as the Riddler and Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman, will hit screens June 25, 2021.
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