We now know just how much Christopher Nolan befriends and depends on his personal stable of actors for direct multiple and follow up performances; so much so that we recently discovered (courtesy of JoshW) he allowed Cillian Murphy [The villanous Scarecrow in The Dark Knight] to "read through the script and choose a role in Inception".
I had recently written an editorial about how
OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) fits into The Riddler's bio, comparing the characters, and how it's very similar to the struggle Howard Hughes endured during his lifetime, and probably was part of the driving force behind his phenomenal success, and eventual demise. Becoming a potential influence to any actor portraying
a realistic Riddler. My suggestion was to base The Riddler on Howard Hughes gone bad.
The Riddler is a character sharing multiple traits with Howard Hughes. Not only are they both OCD sufferers, but they are of genius level intellect, and you could say they're both in general "obsessed with puzzles". Nolan's already explored the effects of
TBI (Tramatic Brain Injury), and short term memory loss in
Memento; the search for identity, criminal behavior, and general insanity, etc. with
Batman. Mental distress, morality, criminality, identity; these are the themes Christopher Nolan seems primarily fascinated with.
Leonardo Dicaprio played the leading role in and was nominated for an Academy Award in Martin Scorcese's
The Aviator (2005) - a biography of Howard Hughes.
For this role he did extensive research into the subject of OCD. So much so that he consulted with doctors, and even shadowed patients plagued with the illness.
These are excerpts from Dicaprio doing a press conference for The Aviator that offer us a window into just how much research he's done toward the subject, and how dedicated he can be:
"As an actor, you’re constantly searching for that great character. And, being a history buff and learning about people in our past and amazing things that they’ve done, I came across a book of Howard Hughes and he was set up basically as like the most multi-dimensional character I could ever come across."
"[Hughes was] the first American billionaire who had all the resources in the world but was somehow unable to find any sense of peace or happiness. It’s that great see-saw act in the movie that goes on. On one side, he’s having all the successes in the world. And on the other side the tiny microbes and germs are the things that are taking him downwards, because of his OCD and being a germaphobe."
"I think he certainly took things farther than I could ever imagine. He was such an obsessed human being. He was so obsessive about everything he’d gotten involved with, whether it be planes or women or the films that he made. And that is the direct result of his OCD."
"So that brought me to work with Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz of UCLA, who is the
leading physician on obsessive compulsive disorder and treating it in a non-medicated fashion. He really explained to me what OCD is and the brain mechanism that goes into it and the sort of faulty gear shift, the sticky gear shift that happens when your mind obsesses on one thing and you don’t listen to the other part of your brain that tells you you’re being ridiculous. So, I worked a lot with him and a patient of his. I spent a few days with him, living around him and talking to him and really trying to find out why he had to repeat or do things obsessively. Then, reading every possible book I could on him and his life."
There is a heavy push from much of the fanbase for The Riddler to make an appearance in the sequel to The Dark Knight, with Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Johnny Depp having commented on the subject, and even Hans Zimmer "wanting to do a score for The Riddler". With Zimmer becoming an inseperable force to Nolan's filmmaking, this adds to the likelihood that we may see these events unfold.
Though we will have to wait for Inception's reception, and further information regarding the director's and actor's collaboration. I think this is at least circumstantial evidence and makes it a very likely possibility we may see Dicaprio cropping up as Batman's troublesome and troubled green suited rogue in the fervently awaited and as of yet untitled
sequel to The Dark Knight. Love him or hate him, will all this in mind, I think the odds just went up of seeing Dicaprio get it.
Inception opens on July 16 which will offer insight into how successfully Nolan and him pair up, and shortly thereafter, how exactly Nolan's going to approach Batman 3 currently slated for a July 20, 2012 release.