Christian Bale says he's done playing Batman

Christian Bale has had enough of all things Batman.

The 37-year-old thesp, who played the Caped Crusader in "Batman Begins," "The Dark Knight" and the upcoming "The Dark Knight Rises," said the latter film will be the last time fans see him in bat garb, according to the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

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"I wrapped a few days ago so that will be the last time I'm taking that cowl [Batman hood] off," Bale told the publication. "I believe that the whole production wrapped yesterday, so it's all done. Everything's finished. It's me and [director] Chris [Nolan] ? that will be the end of that Batman era."

But, this isn't the first time the Oscar winner let on that his time with the franchise was coming to an end.

Last November, Bale told E! News in a sit down, "The thing is that this will be, I believe, unless Chris says different, this will be the last time I'm playing Batman."

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And just in case you're wondering if some sort of costar spat was involved with Bale's decision (he has notoriously flown off the handle before on set), he had nothing but good things to say about his costars, particularly regarding Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, and Joseph Gordon Levitt's talents in the flick.

"When Chris watched the screen test, he agreed that Anne did a wonderful job," Bale said. "In many ways, she has the hardest job. There are a number of people who feel that the Catwoman role has been defined previously. So, I always saw Anne's role as being the toughest job of any of us."

As far as Hardy, he described him as "a phenomenal actor."

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"I like working with him a great deal," Bale went on. "He goes the whole hog. I know that Bane has been seen in movies before. But, in my eyes, Tom is essentially creating Bane for the first time so there's great freedom for him to be able to do so."

And he was also impressed by Gordon-Levitt's performance as John Blake in the film.

"Joseph is a very intriguing guy," Bale continued. "I would see Joseph's performances in other films while we were filming. He's somebody who truly seems to love acting. He's a good, smart guy. He did a very good job in the movie."

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Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45454021/ns/today-entertainment/

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