One of the most tragic figures in Batman: The Long Halloween is District Attorney Harvey Dent, whose carefully constructed public face and sense of self-control gradually erodes as he doggedly pursues criminals in Gotham City. In the animated film, Harvey works alongside Batman and Jim Gordon to search for a serial killer striking on different holidays each month. As voiced by Jupiter's Legacy star Josh Duhamel, Harvey eventually embraces his dark side to become the twisted Two-Face and turn against his former companions.
In an exclusive interview with CBR, Duhamel broke down the way he delved into the duality and tragedy inherent to Harvey Dent. He explained how he found his voice as Two-Face, as well as the challenges he faced during his voiceover performance.
CBR: While you've done voiceover roles before, what was it about this project and portraying Harvey Dent that intrigued you?
Josh Duhamel: I've always been a fan of Batman and have been since I was a child. He was always one of my favorite superheroes, so that was pretty cool. When you record these sessions and the movie is in two parts and this character has a dual personality, the Harvey Dent part wasn't so bad; it was summoning Two-Face, that dark side, that was a lot of fun. The hardest part was trying to figure out how I did it when I came back nine months later, because you're in the booth and kind of lose yourself, and then you have to go back and try to recreate that. It gets challenging but that's part of the fun of this, coming up with a completely different alter ego for this guy and then recreating it all those months later.
We've seen so many Two-Faces over the years, with guys like Tommy Lee Jones and Aaron Eckhart. What did you want to bring specifically to your interpretation of this character?
Duhamel: I wasn't really thinking about any of those other people that had done it before. It was just how do I do this for this particular story that keeps it within the ballpark of what we've already been done, so it doesn't feel like a complete departure. But at the same, he's got to be completely different and take on a different personality when that time comes. I just wanted him to have this possessed sort of feel to him. This is really exposing that dark side that I think we all have and what does that sound like? I think for Harvey, I didn't really find it until we got in there and did it. Sometimes, when I'm in less control of what the performance is going to become, the better it is. That's kind of what I wanted to do with this, to see what happens in the moment.
How was it working with voice director Wes Gleason, in the moment, to find your voice for this guy?
Duhamel: I've worked with Wes a lot over the past couple years and he's so great! He's such an optimist and he believes in what you're doing and he adds to it, adjusting the nuance and all that. He's been doing it for so long and he helps you take what you've done and make it a little bit better and he does it in a way that you don't even realize it until you're done. He's in there with you and that's what I love about working with Wes on several different projects now. He's become an old buddy at this point.
We spend a lot of time with Harvey and really get to know him, really heightening the tragedy. How was developing that humanity and keeping sight of it after he embraces his dark side?
Duhamel: You're right, we did spend a lot of time figuring out who he was and the issues he was having with his marriage. It was just a slow burn as you feel him starting to crack before he completely split his personalities. That was fun, because you could understand the reasons why, not that he's just a bad guy but there's reasons for him to become who he became. I think that helped give the character a sort of context.
In regards to context, was there a specific line or moment that helped inform your performance?
Duhamel: I don't remember a specific line but I remember the moment when we found the voice. It was just quiet for a moment and we were like, "Holy shit, that's it!" What's so fun and lucky to be a part of something like this is you sort of lead yourself sometimes and become somebody else. That's why it was so hard to come back to it after being away for nine months, trying to remember how I did that, because I just kind of went to a different place and let the energy flow. I remember we all figured out what it was and it was so fun to lose yourself in this guy that has absolutely gone to the other side.
You've done sequels and stuff before, like with Transformers. Is it a similar experience to get back to a character's head space after months or years away?
Duhamel: Yeah, it always takes a minute to get back in the mindset of that but this is different than acting on-camera. You've got to go to a different place altogether because you're bringing to life something that's already kind of there. And how do you do that without being distracting or over-the-top but it still has to be different enough from Harvey to make him feel he's truly two different people. You have to do it purely with your voice and it's a tough thing to do but it's also a lot of fun because voiceover stuff is not only a great exercise for acting, in general, but people forget how important your voice is [in comparison to] anything visually on-screen. It's really helped me over the years.
As a quick aside, this isn't your first superhero project this year and I was wondering if you could speak to your experience on Jupiter's Legacy.
Duhamel: I had a great time on Jupiter's Legacy! We worked hard on that for eight months. To see it performing the way that it is was great and gratifying to see the way the audience reacted and I wish Netflix reacted the same way the audience has. It's too bad because we're not going to have a chance to tell that second season, which was going to be great, but so goes the business.
To wrap things up, what are you excited getting to share this film with audiences and when you really get to cut loose in Part 2?
Duhamel: I just think the story is great and, overall, this is the kind of animated stuff that I love because it's made for adults. It isn't something that's been homogenized and watered-down for kids. This is meant to be an adult feature and I just love that it didn't hold back and they let it be as authentic as it's supposed to be.
Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One stars Jensen Ackles as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Naya Rivera as Catwoman/Selina Kyle, Josh Duhamel as Harvey Dent, Billy Burke as James Gordon, Titus Welliver as Carmine Falcone, David Dastmalchian as Calendar Man, Troy Baker as Joker, Amy Landecker as Barbara Gordon, Julie Nathanson as Gilda Dent, Jack Quaid as Alberto, Fred Tatasciore as Solomon Grundy and Alastair Duncan as Alfred, along with Frances Callier, Greg Chun, Gary Leroi Gray and Jim Pirri. The film is scheduled for release on June 22. Batman: The Long Halloween, Part Two arrives digitally on July 27 and on Blu-ray on Aug. 10.