Dark knight returns

Apr 4 2008 by Karen Price, Western Mail

CHRISTIAN Bale is one of the most celebrated young actors of his generation – and he just happens to be Welsh. Yes, really.

The Batman Begins star, who was born in Haverfordwest, has enthralled audiences in American Psycho, 3:10 To Yuma and Rescue Dawn among others.

Now he is about to reprise the role for which he is most famous – Batman – in the new summer blockbuster The Dark Knight. But, as he admits in our big interview this week, it’s going to be a bittersweet experience for him. For the film also stars Heath Ledger as the Joker. The Australian actor died in January following an accidental drugs overdose. In our cover feature, Bale talks about Ledger as well as some of the greatest experiences he has encountered during his career. He also admits that he would rather forget some of the films he has made. In my experience, it’s not often you’ll get a Welshman admitting he has made the wrong decision!

Another Welshman who’s a prominent figure in his chosen career is artist William Wilkins. Using the painstaking pointilliste technique means that it takes him a while to produce a body of work so his exhibitions are rare gems.

But he has just opened a one-man show in Cardiff – not far from the international Artes Mundi exhibition which he founded.

This week Julie Richards met up with him as he prepared for the opening of his show to speak about his painting and how he feels about the Artes Mundi show, which is now in its third year. Find out more on pages 6 & 7.

Finally, The Storys are also continuing to fly the flag for Wales with the launch of their new album.

The band gained an international reputation after Elton John chose them to support him on his world tour – but don’t expect any rock ‘n’ roll behaviour from the boys.

Read Steffan Rhys’ interview with lead singer Steve Balsamo on pages 12 & 13.