Despite what fans may think of The Riddler, Paul Dano, the man who portrays the villain in The Batman, still thinks that the enigmatic menace plays the buzziest game of the year: Wordle. He’s been in Hollywood for decades and he’s worked with some of the most famous actors of all time, but he’s not really a household name.
In a sprawling interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Dano, an actor who considers his characters’ most minute of deals, revealed that the infamous villain probably enjoys those green and yellow squares as much as all of us.
“This is a guy who survived by finding a way to focus his brain on something apart from his own thoughts and trauma and pain.
“That actually was very important to my backstory — not Wordle, literally — but the idea that puzzles were the only place that he would be given any form of positive feedback in his life. They were the only thing that ever said to him in his whole life, ‘You win.’”
In another example of his fastidiousness, The Riddler is known as a meticulous killer, and Dano said he thought about that a lot when crafting how the character would appear.
“The thoroughness of this person, the almost maniacal detail that he puts into plotting — I was like, ‘OK, well, should I just shave all my body hair?’ So there’s no evidence?”
“Instead of moving forward with that plan he came up with something equally as unnerving and creepy: “I’m going to wrap my head in Saran wrap.”
Director Matt Reeves said they loved the idea but eventually tried to talk the actor out of it after some logistical difficulties. Dano insisted it stay.
“Paul takes off the mask, his head, his face is beet red.
“The heat can’t escape. I was like, ‘OK, all right, Paul, let’s rethink this. You don’t have to do this.’ He goes, ‘No, man, I told you that I wanted to do it. I’ll do it.’”
Dano said, despite appearing in huge movies like There Will Be Blood and 12 Years a Slave, said he’s finally ready for the sort of mainstream attention a role in a tentpole DC Comics movie will bring him.
“I am more clear in myself now about what I want and what I get from my work.
“That allows for a more healthy sense of not just artistry, but also ambition. It feels really good to me to have done this now, and I can enjoy it now, where I don’t know if I would have in my 20s.”
The Batman swings into theaters on March 4.