Movie Pilot caught up with David Mazouz to talk about his role as a young Bruce Wayne in the new TV series Gotham.

Even though this is a very young Bruce Wayne, did you feel the weight when you got the role?

Well, let me ask you this question. What 13-year-old boy would not want to be Batman? So my first reaction to hearing that I was going to be playing Bruce Wayne was, “Oh my God, this is amazing. This is the best thing that ever happened in my whole life.” And then a few days later it kind of hit me. Oh my God, I’m playing Bruce Wayne. It’s not going to be what people want, they’re going to want this. I think after shooting the pilot, I’m a little bit more comfortable with the role and I think it’s going to be really fun. Maybe they won’t like me but hopefully not.

But you’re not going to play Batman for a while, right?

Yeah, I’m not going to be Batman at all in the show. I’m playing Bruce Wayne, but we all know who he grows up to be.

So how do you tide yourself over until then?

I think that actually shows in one of the scenes in the pilot. Because I think that Bruce Wayne is just a regular, not regular, he’s a billionaire, but he’s pretty much just a regular boy in terms of attitude. When his parents die, I think that’s a huge breaking point for him and slowly and slowly, until he is Batman, he’s getting stronger and stronger and he wants revenge. He seeks vengeance to justify his parents’ death.

Being a 13-year-old kid, how does he enjoy being a billionaire?

I guess he grows up with it. It’s been like that his whole life so I guess he doesn’t really know any different, but who doesn’t want to be a billionaire? I can’t really imagine he doesn’t like it.

Are we going to see any wonderful toys that he has?

I hope so. Not in the pilot but I would hope.

How did you feel about beginning the show with the murder of Bruce’s parents? Would you have liked to see Bruce earlier in happier times?

I think that would be a different approach to it, but I think it’ll be cool because like I said before, I think the Waynes’ murder is a huge breaking point for Bruce. He becomes a different person and slowly over the years until he becomes Batman, he’s developing and it’s happening more and more inside. It’s building up, this anger. There’s this want to get the people who did this and to bring justice to Gotham.

Who are your favorite Batman villains?

My favorite villain is probably Bane because Bane seems the least insane. I mean, The Penguin’s pretty insane as you can see in the pilot. Robin Lord Taylor is amazing in it and he plays an amazing Oswald Cobblepot. And the Joker’s pretty insane. I mean, I guess you can tell that just by looking at him. I think Bane because he’s big, he has that mask, he talks in a really threatening voice and you get scared when you see him. So I think he’s my favorite.

If you get to do a scene with a live bat, how will you feel about that?

That would be awesome. I mean, I’ve never been with a bat before. Do they have trained bats? Is that a thing?

Source

• moviepilot.com