Aaron Eckhart: "Dent"ed Acting

The Joker's the well known villain in the upcoming Dark Knight, but many are unaware that a second villain will terrify the city of Gotham. That's right, Two-Face is the other bane of Batman's existance this time around, played by none other than Aaron Eckhart. Eckhart, known for roles in The Black Dahlia and Thank You for Smoking, is no stranger to the role of bad deeds hidden within a less visible exterior. As Harvey Dent, he is the up and coming District Attorney, who, through circumstances most likely related to the Joker, finds himself hideously transformed into Two-Face.

"The difference between Batman and Two-Face is how far they are willing to go and how they make their point," Eckhart said about Harvey '. "Otherwise, we're talking about vigilante crime-fighting. That's what Batman is all about. He has a strong sense of justice. And Harvey Dent has an extremely strong sense of justice. His fiancée is killed. He's horribly injured. But he is still true to himself. He's a crime fighter, he's not killing good people. He's not a bad guy, not purely."

Eckhart continues, "You look at a good guy too long and it's not that exciting, it's the Boy Scout always doing the right thing," Eckhart said. "I'm interested in good guys gone wrong. They're not the bad guy, they're the good guy doing bad things."

The truth of the matter is, according to Eckhart, that the real focus of The Dark Knight is Harvey Dent, and his disfigurement and transformation from prosecutor, Harvey Dent, to persecutor, Harvey Two-Face. It is mainly because of Heath Ledger's death that his performance as Joker became the focus of the movie.

Eckhart sums up the performance as Dent, stating, "My guy identifies with everybody in the movie," Eckhart said. "Really, all of it is more than an adventure tale, it's somewhat of a mirror of our times. It deals with some fundamental questions of what's going on in society. To me, this film is about how Batman feels about justice, how he takes care of the city, how he feels about the Joker when he meets him and sees what he is capable of doing. How he feels when Harvey Two-Face takes matters into his own hands. It's not simple, and it gets ugly. I think people will be surprised."