Bale: 'Heath did one hell of a job'

Christian Bale has praised late actor Heath Ledger's performance in the new Batman film.

Bale, who plays the superhero in Batman Begins sequel The Dark Knight, said Ledger did "one hell of a job" as The Joker.

He told Entertainment Weekly: "I'm absolutely fine talking about Heath, although I don't like trivialising the tragedy in conjunction with an interview to do with the movie, which is clearly far less important.

"But Heath was a joy. He really was like that, because he was a very unique man. I enjoyed watching him work, working with him - you know, we had a lot of the old gang from the first one together, and then there were new members, Heath obviously included.

"What was so great to see with Heath is just how seriously he took it. And he did one hell of a job."

Ledger died from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs in January.

Bale also revealed that he wants to reprise his role as Batman for a third film.