Just last week, we brought you an interview with director Christopher Nolan, who revealed that the forthcoming prologue to The Dark Knight Rises, which is set to premiere in front of Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol in IMAX “is basically the first six, seven minutes of the film. It’s an introduction to Bane, and a taste of the rest of the film”.

Actor Tom Hardy also chimed in and spoke a bit about his portrayal of the villainous Bane in the film:

“He’s brutal. Brutal. He’s a big dude who’s incredibly clinical, in the fact that he has a result-based and oriented fighting style. It’s not about fighting. It’s about carnage. The style is heavy-handed, heavy-footed, it’s nasty. Anything from small-joint manipulation to crushing skulls, crushing rib cages, stamping on shins and knees and necks and collarbones and snapping heads off and tearing his fists through chests, ripping out spinal columns. He is a terrorist in mentality as well as brutal action.”

Now, we bring you news that principal photography on the film has completed and the leading man, Christian Bale has spoken to the Philippine Daily Inquirer about the end of his Bat-Era and had some words about his co-stars as well.

“I wrapped a few days ago so that will be the last time I’m taking that cowl off, I believe that the whole production wrapped yesterday, so it’s all done. Everything’s finished. It’s me and Chris – that will be the end of that Batman era.”

The actor revealed what about Anne Hathaway landed her the role of Catwoman:

“I was there when we did the screen test for her. The thing that I said to Chris [Nolan] that day was that there were many very accomplished actresses who had read for the role. I’m terrible at auditions, so I’m very impressed when somebody really seems to acquire an ownership of a character without having worked on it or prepared for some amount of time.

I saw that in Anne. When Chris watched the screen test, he agreed that Anne did a wonderful job. 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. In my case, I’ve stopped referencing outside sources. I now reference Chris’ own world of Batman as a guide to what I will continue doing.”

He also had some nice things to say about Tom Hardy and Joseph Gordon-Levitt:

“[Tom Hardy is a] phenomenal actor. I like working with him a great deal. 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. 

Joseph is a very intriguing guy. 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.”

The Dark Knight Rises is slated to hit theaters on July 20th, 2012.