On Batman’s Gilda Dent With Julie Nathanson

Julie Nathanson:  She, um, for me, I, I got to know her in the script of the Long Halloween, and, you know, I certainly know that she has had some history prior to that, but this is a, um, a, a, a real opportunity to, to dive into this character and understand her. At a deeper level. Um, and, you know, as soon as I saw her on the page, um, I could tell, and, and really the page for me was, was the script. I chose, um, not to, uh, allow myself to, uh, to read the comic, the graphic novels, um, before principal recording was finished. So for me, Gilda came alive, um.In the script, and in this adaptation. So, you know, I, I understood pretty immediately that this is a woman with a real inner life with pain that she’s holding, with a duality like many of the characters in these stories, um, you know, between the part of her that wants to connect with her husband, and the part of her that is guarded because of pain. So, um, that’s, you know, that’s where it started for me. 

I think, you know, we, we know so much about Harvey Dent, you know, through, certainly through canon, certainly understanding where he goes after the story. Um, but the opportunity to explore this relationship for him and, and again, what it means to her, um, was, was a delicate process.Um, you know, in this heightened world, Gilda is a very human and and real character. She is, um.
You know, those, those moments, those scenes between Gilt and Harvey are quiet and understated at times. Um, little, little nuances of, of hearing someone walk in and, and sort of when and how you turn to connect with them or, or stay disconnected.And, um, that felt so quiet. Um, and I really appreciate about the sound design of this movie, that it’s not chaotic.So many moments land because they’re quiet. And I’m not just talking about the volume of the voices, but, you know, there, there are real silences and spaces in this movie, places where I could see music sweeping in, right? Fully and sound effects coming in.
And there are spaces where we just hold for the feeling between the characters. And I noticed that happens quite a bit with Harvey and Gilda.And it, it feels to me like they’re kind of encapsulated in this little bubble. Um, so it, it adds to that feeling of connectedness and also with Gilda, some disconnectedness, which I think helps to to flesh out their relationship in this, uh, in this movie. Well, if I know my story, I’m not going to give anything away about what happens between those two, but this is quite a part for you and obviously pretty challenging. Yeah, um, very much so, and, and in the best possible way, you know, I, you know, you and I have, I’ve had the pleasure of speaking with you, um, a couple of times before, and, and it’s no secret. I love what I do.

I’m, I’m always excited to talk about voiceover and a project that I’m in. This has been, um, you know, I, I joked when we first got announced, when our cast was first announced. I said, Batman, the long secret I had to keep, um, because we, we’ve, you know, the, the cast has sort of been sitting on this for about 3 years and, and have loved it. Um, but part of what I’ve been kind of sitting on and holding is this incredible honor to be able to play this, this deep and profoundly pained character who I think has, there are so many. Shadows of things that I know I have felt in my life, again, wanting to connect and disconnect at the same time and, and sort of, you know, trying to decide and establish which boundaries are OK, and, and at what point, you know, do you, do you just want to be with this person and at what point do you need your space? And, and I feel like You know, she is a unique character for me to get to play.I played, you know, some, some broad characters before, but, um, I was really, um, I keep saying honored and, and I’m not quite sure there’s another word for it, but, but really quite honored that I was offered the chance to dive into this world. And inhabit this character.