Kevin Conroy On Key To Playing Batman

Kevin Conroy gives advice for anybody who is playing or will play the guardian of Gotham

There have been lots of different people playing different takes on Batman over the years. Films, TV, Video games. Even stage shows. But easily the most enduring Batman performer has been Kevin Conroy. Starting with the seminal Batman: The Animated series, he’s been the voice of Batman in literally dozens of games, movies & TV shows. For many people, he is Batman. Accept no substitutes.

Kevin Conroy himself doesn’t feel that way, and actually appreciates the different takes over the years (Batman v Superman being an exception). But he does have advice that anyone taking up that cape and cowl:

"Well, the key to playing Batman for me has been the fact the persona of the Bat – the character of the Bat, the putting on of the mask – is not the performance.The performance is Bruce Wayne. The real essence of the man is Batman. That’s when he’s his most comfortable; he’s at his most naked, most emotionally raw when he’s in the bat cave alone. When he goes out to Wayne Technologies. faces the world and puts on a suit – that’s the performance.Bruce Wayne is the performance element. That’s always been my key to the character, and I think when you play it that way it makes the Batman so authentic. It makes it less of an artifice. It just makes it ring true. So that it’s not just putting on this odd costume and pretending you’re someone you’re not.The character of the Bat evolves out of the loss of his parents as a child and the trauma that induced. He’s never resolved that pain in his life, and he spends his life avenging their deaths. The Bat is the persona he has gone into to accomplish that."

Next: Kevin Conroy Says Arkham Games Are Exhausting

I definitely think that’s something that many playing Batman do not do. They play Batman and Bruce Wayne is just sort of there. Kevin Conroy’s latest performance as the Dark Knight can be seen in the recently released animated adaptation of The Killing Joke. He’ll also be voicing Batman in the upcoming Justice League Action cartoon series on Cartoon Network this Fall.

h/t IGN