Shadowing Practice: The Dark Knight Rises Interview - Christian Bale (2012) HD - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Okay, congratulations, Christian.
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Thank you.
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Man, you stepped it up to the plate and you hit a home run.
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Thank you very much.
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And I want to know, how important is it, you know, having played this guy now for nine years, to keep having that evolution, to make him change?
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How important was that in this one?
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It's very important, you know.
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There's a great character here, you know, and so there's just nothing to be lazy about.
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There's a boy, there's a man here who has put his own life on hold,
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who's driven by this great pain and desire for revenge and wish for purposefulness and usefulness in his life. And
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so, you know, I always viewed him as being every bit as interesting as any of the villains in any of the movies.
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Yeah, and, you know, almost as damaged as them as well.
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Oh, very much so.
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He's a very damaged man.
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And, of course, working with Chris Nolan all these years, and it just amazes me every time I walk out of
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one of his films how he just keeps making them better and better.
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Do you still have pinch yourself when you're working with this man?
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He's very good, isn't he?
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Yeah.
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What's it like to work next to him?
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He's very confident.
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He hasn't changed since the first day that I met him.
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He's always been very efficient and clear about what it is that he wants. and he gets it.
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That's amazing.
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And his tea helps too, I'm sure.
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Oh yeah, you know about that.
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Yeah, I don't know how he takes so much of that.
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He just drinks it nonstop all day long.
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Something about that Earl Grey, it must work.
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You have Batman, Bruce Wayne goes up against some great people in this film.
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Let's first talk about Anne Hathaway and your experience working with her and what you thought of her performance, because I thought she was amazing.
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Yeah, well, you know, I think that from the first time that I read with her, I turned to Chris afterwards and I went,
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I think that, you know, that's it.
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Because I recognized from being within the suit that you had to have a reason for wearing these bizarre costumes.
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You know, in Chris's world, you had to make that mean something.
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And with Bruce Wayne, it's because he feels monstrous, So he creates this monster in order to channel that.
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And I found that with Anne, she was able in the scenes where she's not in her Catwoman costume to be very real
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and keep him with the atmosphere of Chris's movies, but then when she put it on, she was wearing it.
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She wasn't dominated by it.
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And you have to be able to do that without going over the top, without making it too
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cartoonish You had to be able to overcome The clothes the costume and she was very very able to do that Okay,
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the fighter going against the warrior Tom Hardy my God
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How did you guys just develop the fight scenes you're both
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wearing these crazy masks You probably not hear each other And I was just you know watching it was brilliant
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It could be a little tricky sometimes to hear each other and we worked out little sort of signals for each other.
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But Tom's a really wonderful actor and he was always able to convey
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so much despite having so much of his face being covered.
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And Chris casts very, very well.
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Yeah, he certainly does.
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He just has a knack for it.
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Bruce Wayne, he's facing fears.
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Batman's facing fears and you look back at your career, Christian, and the roles that you choose are always so fantastic, you're so good.
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Do you feel that with each role that you take on that you are, it makes you a stronger actor because you're facing fears with roles?
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I don't really think about it.
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I don't know.
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I think that's for other people to, you know, to observe.
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Okay, yeah, no, just because it's interesting how the stuff that you've taken on, you just really, you know, you grasp it and you really take them on.
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Well, thank you.
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And it's so fantastic.
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Working with Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
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Tell me about him because another amazing actor.
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Yeah, yeah, you know, he plays a somewhat more quiet character, obviously, than Anne or Tom playing in this.
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But somebody who's very important because he, you know, when we return to Bruce Wayne at the beginning of this movie,
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he's somebody who has lost all sense of purpose and of self.
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and it's very much Joseph's character, Blake, who inspires him again.
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And he has all of the brashness of youth,
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and that reminds Bruce Wayne of who he used to be and encourages him to step back up again.
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The scenes with Michael Caine, how did you get through them?
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It's always easier, Michael.
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This is the fourth movie that we've made together.
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He's a real pro, he's one of the best out there.
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When you're working with people that you know well, and we know our characters very well,
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then things happen actually very easily and very smoothly.
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He's the heart of the movie, really.
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You know, he keeps Bruce Wayne, Batman, in check and makes sure that he's staying on the right path.
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I didn't know I was going to need Kleenex for this one.
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Oh, right.
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Yeah, it's really...
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Well, Michael will do that to you.
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Yeah, well, you too.
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Whether it's crying or laughing with Michael.
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Yeah, and just, you know, being able to put on that suit for the last time,
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do you have a recollection of what that was like when you took off the cowl and everything for the last time?
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Absolutely, yeah, yeah, we were in New York and...
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you know, like everything, you spend a lot of time with it.
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It becomes sort of a love-hate thing because I spent
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so many hours sitting in it for seven months at a time for each movie.
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But I was always honored to be able to wear it and to be able to, you know, inhabit this very iconic character.
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And, yeah, you know, these moments happen quite quietly, always on movies.
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It's just, hey, that's the end.
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That's the end, that was the last shot.
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And I just took a few minutes to myself to keep it on, realizing that was the last time it would be on.
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And yeah, no, it was a meaningful moment.
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These movies have meant a great deal to me.
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Yeah, sure.
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Is that refreshing for you as an actor?
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You're now working with Terrence Malick, another brilliant director, of course.
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And to not talk about a movie, to be able to keep it secret, I have to say that for me, just as an audience viewer, just as a fan going into this film,
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I love the fact that I knew nothing about it and it just makes it so much better experience.
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Must be great for an actor not to have to talk about it.
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Yes.
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You can't embellish on that a little bit, on how you feel about just keeping secrets?
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I think that's about as clear as I can get.
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It's very nice not to have to talk about it.
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Well, I've been talking about it now.
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Have the movie speak for itself.
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Yeah, it's fantastic.
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Again, you did such a great job.
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Thank you for three spectacular Batman films.
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Thank you very much.
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And I look forward to what you have coming up next for us.
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Thank you.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 112 sentences and 1286 words to shadow. The speech runs for 7:29. The speaker talks at a natural 172 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 88% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| costume noun | /ˈkɑsˌt(j)um/ | A style of dress, including garments, accessories and hairstyle, especially as characteristic of a particular country, period or people. |
| atmosphere noun | /ˈætməsˌfɪɹ/ | The gases surrounding the Earth or any astronomical body. |
| encourage verb | /ɪnˈkʌɹ.ɪd͡ʒ/ | To mentally support; to motivate, give courage, hope or spirit. |
| afterwards adverb | /ˈæf.tɚ.wɚdz/ | At a later or succeeding time; after that; |
| efficient adjective | /ɪˈfɪʃənt/ | Making good, thorough, or careful use of resources; not consuming extra. Especially, making good use of time or energy. |
| evolution noun | /ˌiːvəˈluːʃ(ə)n/ | A manoeuvre of troops or ships. |
| congratulations | /kənˌɡɹæt͡ʃəˈleɪʃ(ə)nz/ | Expressing praise and approval, expressing approbation. |
| remind verb | /ɹəˈmaɪnd/ | To cause one to experience a memory (of someone or something); to bring to the notice or consideration (of a person). |
| fighter noun | /ˈfaɪtɚ/ | A person who fights; a combatant. |
| mask noun | /mæsk/ | A cover, or partial cover, for the face, used for disguise or protection. |
| revenge noun | /ɹəˈvɛnd͡ʒ/ | Any form of personal, retaliatory action against an individual, institution, or group for some alleged or perceived harm or injustice. |
| overcome verb | /ˌəʊ.vəˈkʌm/ | To surmount (a physical or abstract obstacle); to prevail over, to get the better of. |
| lazy adjective | /ˈleɪ̯zi(ː)/ | Unwilling to do work or make an effort; disinclined to exertion. |
| warrior noun | /ˈwɔɹi.ɚ/ | A person who is actively engaged in battle, conflict or warfare; a soldier or combatant. |
| quietly adverb | /ˈkwaɪ.ɪt.li/ | Producing little or no noise. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| come up verb | To emerge or become known, especially unexpectedly. | |
| get through verb | /ɡɛt ˈθɹu/ | To overcome; to endure. |
| go up against verb | To challenge someone. | |
| going over noun | An inspection, examination, review, or investigation. | |
| look forward to verb | To anticipate, expect, or wait for, especially with a feeling of approval or pleasure; to be excited or eager to. | |
| take off verb | To remove. | |
| work out verb | /ˌwɝk ˈaʊt/ | To calculate. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | has put · hasn't changed · you've taken |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | wasn't dominated · being covered · was always honored |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 18 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, don't, can't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: cloth /klɒθ/, smoothly /ˈsmuːðli/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: efficient /ɪˈfɪʃənt/, evolution /ˌiːvəˈluːʃ(ə)n/, congratulations /kənˌɡɹæt͡ʃəˈleɪʃ(ə)nz/, refresh /ɹɪˈfɹɛʃ/, brashness /ˈbɹæʃ.nəs/
- Long words — get the stress right: evolution /ˌiːvəˈluːʃ(ə)n/, congratulations /kənˌɡɹæt͡ʃəˈleɪʃ(ə)nz/, spectacular /spɛkˈtæk.jə.lɚ/, recollection /ɹɛkəˈlɛkʃən/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like costume, atmosphere, encourage.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.