Christopher Nolan Compares Harry Styles Casting To Heath Ledger’s Joker

It’s been years since Christopher Nolan walked into the world of Batman, but the director hasn’t been bored. Reviews for Nolan’s new movie Dunkirk are coming in hot as they praise both the director and singer-slash-actor Harry Styles. However, some DC fans are a bit boggled to hear Nolan compare the One Direction star’s casting to that of Heath Ledger and the Joker.

Entertainment Tonight had a chance to speak with Nolan recently, and the director revealed how Styles nabbed a role in Dunkirk. Some critics believed the singer was cast simply for his fame, but Nolan claims he didn’t know who Styles was before he auditioned.

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“As a director, I have to trust my instincts, my ability to figure out who’s the right guy for the part. I’m not too worried about baggage,” Nolan explained. “I was new to Harry. I mean, I’ve heard his name from my kids, but I wasn’t really familiar with him… What I was seeing [when he auditioned] was a very charismatic guy who clearly had a truthfulness and a subtlety in his ability to perform as a film actor.”

Continuing, Nolan said he is not a stranger to casting against type. The director reflected on his tenure with The Dark Knight trilogy and how fans initially pushed back against Heath Ledger’s Joker gig.

“When I cast Heath Ledger as the Joker, it raised a lot of eyebrows and caused a lot of comment,” Nolan started. “I have to trust my instincts, and Harry was perfect for this part.”

According to incoming reviews, Dunkirk houses a memorable performance from Styles; Still, it would be hard to compare the actor’s outing to the one Ledger had as the Joker. The Australian actor’s take on the whacked-out villain has become an iconic one in the world of Hollywood. Not only does Ledger’s Joker stand as one of the Batman franchise’s best yet but the actor also gave Hollywood a new standard on how to play a depraved maniac. Fans might have been wary of Ledger’s casting at first, but the actor proved critics wrong with his method take on the Gotham villain in the end.

Hopefully, Styles will be able to do the same for his naysayers when Dunkirk hits theaters on July 20th.

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The Dark Knight Rises is the epic conclusion to filmmaker Christopher Nolan‘s Dark Knight trilogy. It has been eight years since Batman vanished into the night, turning, in that instant, from hero to fugitive. Assuming the blame for the death of D.A. Harvey Dent, the Dark Knight sacrificed everything for what he and Commissioner Gordon both hoped was the greater good. For a time the lie worked, as criminal activity in Gotham City was crushed under the weight of the anti-crime Dent Act. But everything will change with the arrival of a cunning cat burglar with a mysterious agenda. Far more dangerous, however, is the emergence of Bane, a masked terrorist whose ruthless plans for Gotham drive Bruce out of his self-imposed exile. But even if he dons the cape and cowl again, Batman may be no match for Bane.

The cast featured Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, and Morgan Freeman. It was directed by Christopher Nolan, based on a screenplay he wrote with his brother, Jonathan Nolan.