Kevin Conroy: How To Be Batman

After expressing his opinion on Ben Affleck's Batman, Conroy then gave 5 steps on how to be Batman. I guess he has been Batman for two decades...

1. Understand The Alter Ego

Kevin Conroy says,

"Well, the key to playing Batman for me has been the fact of the persona of the Bat- the character of the Bat- the putting on the mask- is not the performance. The performance is Bruce Wayne. The real essence of the man is Batman. Bruce Wayne is the performance element. That's always been my key to the character, and I think you play it that way it makes the Batman so authentic."

2. Batman Is For Everyone

"I love the fact that Warner Brothers have for the live-action Batman changed the casting so frequently. I think it's really interesting to see different actors in the role, to see what they bring to the character. Everyone brings something different. And there have been so many actors that have been wonderful. I liked Michael Keaton and I like what Ben Affleck is doing with it now. But they couldn't be more different."

(I guess it's just the killing he doesn't like?)

3. Embrace The Darkness

"The thing I've discovered is the audience for Batman is the most loyal and the most passionate you're going to find for any franchise. They know everything about the character. They understand him. Batman is almost this anti-hero; he has this darkness about him, and people really relate to that. They relate to his flawed character. There's an ownership the audience feels about the character, and once i established that voice 25 years ago, the obligation I had was not to deviate and keep it consistent. If I ever lied, or if I ever phoned it in, they would be all over me."

4. A Bat Of Few Words

"Batman is a man of few words. So when you're the voice actor doing the role you really have very few opportunities to sketch the character. Because most of it is action. He's the strong silent type. There aren't a lot of moments where he expresses his emotions. So you have to learn to nuance the few lines you have to flesh out the character."

5. Justice For All

"Well the challenge, and there is a real challenge in it...Then you translate that into an episode where you have seven leading characters and you're sharing the stage with seven other people. In Justice League, there are often episodes where I'll have four or five lines, where in Batman: The Animated Series, I was used to having the entire script to create a portrait of the character. When you only have a few lines, it's much more difficult. If you inhabit him, and speak truthfully, it will resonate with the audience. But it is harder to do because the temptation is to push it when you're sharing the stage with lots of other actors."

I guess Kevin Conroy has learnt a thing or two over his Batman years...