Michael Caine takes a fresh approach to memoir in his new book Don’t Look Back, You’ll Trip Over: My Guide to Life. It details a series of chats between the now 91-year-old actor and his friend, journalist Matthew d’Ancona, about Caine’s experiences in life and film.
The winner of two Oscars, for 1986’s Hannah and Her Sisters and 1999’s The Cider House Rules, Caine cemented his place in cinematic history with films including Zulu, Alfie, The Italian Job, Get Carter and A Bridge Too Far. But he appealed to a new generation of film fans in Christopher Nolan’s first blockbuster, Batman Begins, released 20 years ago this coming June.
Billed only behind Christian Bale, who played Batman/Bruce Wayne, Caine played the beloved Wayne family butler, Alfred Pennyworth — who of course was always more than a butler. As Bruce’s emergency medic, de facto therapist, father figure and co-conspirator, Alfred is a dry, brilliant tactician with an unlikely sense of whimsy. A perfect role for Michael Caine. It was the start of a long relationship with Nolan that has also included roles in the director’s The Prestige, Inception, Interstellar, Dunkirk and Tenet.
In this excerpt from Don’t Look Back, You’ll Trip Over, published by Mobius, part of Hachette Book Group, Caine muses on the importance of being Alfred, his memories of Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight, and what Nolan really wants.—M.M.
Matthew d’ANcona: How did you prepare for the role of Alfred Pennyworth?
Michael Caine: The English butler is a familiar figure in fiction and movies. You can play him as a Jeeves, if you like, very refined and superior. Everyone remembers John Gielgud in Arthur (1981). But I thought, in this narrative setting, Alfred needed to be very tough indeed – he was Bruce Wayne’s protector and his mentor, but also his ally.
You had to believe that he would go along with this incredibly dangerous secret life that Bruce had decided upon. Remember, this version of the Batman story is not cartoonish at all. It has wit and humor, of course, but the dark side and the pain are real. So Alfred’s involvement in Bruce’s secret work has to be credible.
I gave him the backstory of an SAS sergeant, who’s been injured and run the mess – that’s how the Wayne family came to employ him as a butler. He cares deeply about Bruce and wants him to be happy, but there’s no question that he’s a trained killer too. He has the ambivalence of a father who knows that his adopted son has a mission in life that is also full of deadly risk.
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Matthew d’Ancona: Does he speak for the audience too?
Michael Caine: Yes, this was a deliberate strategy that Chris and I worked up. Alfred is Bruce’s moral compass and also the voice of the audience saying, “Hold on, what are you doing now?” The Tim Burton Batman movies had been quite surreal and larger than life, but Chris’s version required people to believe in what they were seeing.
That’s why Bruce’s training with the League of Shadows has to be so hard – you understand how this rich orphan was taught to be such a lethal vigilante. And, later in the story, Alfred is up to his eyes in it all, even if a big part of him just wants Bruce to let go of the quest for revenge for his parents’ death and to have a happy life. He understands that this young man is going to have to make Gotham safe, at least in his own eyes, and defeat all the villains before he can even think of that.
Michael Caine on Memories of Heath Ledger and Working With Christopher Nolan
Matthew d’Ancona: So Alfred is emotionally invested in the whole story?
Michael Caine:Yes, and you see that most poignantly in the third movie in the trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises (2012), when he thinks he’s failed Bruce and his parents. He breaks down with the emotion of it all. He’s tough but full of heart. Which made him a really interesting character to play across three big movies.
Matthew d’Ancona: Did you enjoy working with Heath Ledger?
Michael Caine: Yes, he was a lovely guy, very gentle and unassuming. I wondered how he was going to play the Joker, especially as Jack Nicholson’s take had been so iconic. Brilliantly, Heath ramped up the character’s psychotic side rather than going for one-liners. His Joker was deeply, deeply warped and damaged, though you never find out exactly why, or what he’s really looking for. As Alfred says to Bruce, “Some men just want to watch the world burn.” And that was Heath’s version of the character: the smeared make-up, the weird hair, the strange voice. It was chilling. Absolutely floored me the first time I saw him in action – I was terrified!
Matthew d’Ancona: It was a total contrast to Heath Ledger’s personality in real life, though?
Michael Caine: Chalk and cheese. He and Christian were good friends and always having fun together. And then he was transformed into this scheming monster, driving a whole city towards mayhem. Looking back, I think Heath’s excellence made all of us raise our game. The psychological battle between the Joker and Batman is completely riveting. Are they in any way the same? What nudges one man to do good, and the other to do evil? The Joker wants to torment Bruce by convincing him that they’re two of a kind.
Matthew d’Ancona: It must have been a terrible shock when he died.
Michael Caine:It was absolutely awful, it still makes me sad to think of it, more than 15 years on. An accidental overdose, just tragic. Heath was only 28 when he passed away. I hadn’t even made Zulu when I was that age. You think of what he might have gone on to achieve, it’s just heart-breaking. We were all terribly shocked, and it made doing the publicity for The Dark Knight that summer much more intense, because all the journalists wanted to talk about his death.
I was so pleased when he was awarded the posthumous Oscar, because it must have been at least some sort of comfort for his poor family. The truth is, we’d all hoped he would win an Academy Award and thought he should, even while we were still filming the movie. So it was just a very sad thing that he wasn’t around to accept it in person. It’s a performance for the ages, and even though his career was cut short so soon, he’ll be remembered as a great actor, I believe.
Matthew d’Ancona: And you made The Prestige (2006) with Nolan between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight?
Michael Caine:Yes, that’s one of my favorites. It’s about these two magicians in 1890s London – Robert Angier, played by Hugh Jackman, and Christian as Alfred Borden. I played John Cutter, who’s a stage engineer working with both men. It was great to work with Hugh, who I think is a fantastic actor and can do anything. Multi-talented barely covers it! And Scarlett Johansson was in it as well, who is great fun and a superb actor. Plus David Bowie as Nikola Tesla, very reserved and formal in this role.
Again, classic Chris, bringing together a first-rate cast as the basis of everything else. The Prestige, which Chris co-wrote with his brother Jonathan – or Jonah, as he is called – is all about sleight of hand, and you do a lot of double-takes the first time you watch the movie. The rivalry between the two magicians is presented to you inside this puzzle box. Lots of mind games, and Chris’s fascination with science is in there, too. There’s this whole idea of showmanship and technique, and which matters more. Which is a very important question for any storyteller, whether it’s a conjuror, director or actor.
Matthew d’Ancona: Does Nolan deliberately set out to do complicated movies?
Michael Caine: Yes and no. People often ask me about what this or that movie of his is about, and I say, “It’s about two hours.” He loves to intrigue the audience and make them think. It’s a positive feature of his films – this love of pushing you to work out what the story is saying. Sometimes it’s deliberately ambiguous, and the viewer is left to make up their own minds. Other times there is an answer to the riddle. The breadcrumbs are there, if you care to look.
Don’t Look Back, You’ll Trip Over: My Guide to Life is on sale March 25 from Mobius.
Main image: Michael as Alfred Pennyworth in The Dark Knight. Warner Bros.