THEN AND NOW: 'The Dark Knight' cast 15 years later

• Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" debuted in theaters in July 2008.
• One of the best Batman movies, it's one of 53 movies to cross $1 billion at the box office.
• Here's what the cast of the hit superhero movie has worked on since its premiere.

After starring as Batman/Bruce Wayne in the DC hit, Christian Bale won an Oscar three years later.

Bale went from playing the Caped Crusader to winning best supporting actor in 2011's "The Fighter." He's since been nominated three more times for an Academy Award for roles in 2014's "American Hustle," 2016's "The Big Short," and 2019's "Vice."

Known for bulking up and losing weight over the years for roles, Bale lost 70 pounds to go from playing Dick Cheney in "Vice" to racecar driver Ken Hill in 2020's excellent "Ford v Ferrari."

In 2022, Bale went from DC hero to Marvel villain in "Thor: Love and Thunder" in an unrecognizable role as Gorr the God Butcher.

Heath Ledger won a posthumous Oscar for best supporting actor for his performance as the Joker.

Ledger died in February 2008 of an accidental overdose before the film's premiere.

His performance led to the first comic-book movie nomination and win at the Oscars.

Following the film's exclusion from the best picture nods, the Academy Awards expanded the category to include up to 10 nominees.

Since playing James Gordon in "The Dark Knight" trilogy, Gary Oldman earned his first Oscar.

Oldman said he was thrilled to play the famous commissioner in the franchise, describing him as "incorruptible, virtuous, strong, heroic, but understated."

After the WB franchise, Oldman was nominated for his first Academy Award, receiving a best actor nod for his role in "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" at the 2012 Oscars.

It was his first of three Oscar nods. Oldman subsequently was nominated for, and won, the best actor Oscar in 2018 for his leading role in "Dark Hour" and was nominated a third time for best actor in "Mank" at the 2021 awards show. 

Oldman worked with Nolan again in 2023's "Oppenheimer," playing President Truman.

After Aaron Eckhart played Harvey Dent aka Two-Face in "The Dark Knight," he attempted taking on another popular character.

After starring in a rom-com with Jennifer Aniston and appearing in "The Rum Diary" with Johnny Depp, Eckhart led 2014's critically maligned "I, Frankenstein" as the titular monster. 

Eckart has also appeared in Gerard Butler's "Olympus Has Fallen" franchise, playing the President of the United States in two films.

More recently, the 55-year-old actor has appeared on TV, playing President Ford on Showtime's "The First Lady" and voiced a character on AMC+'s canceled adult animated series "Pantheon."

Maggie Gyllenhaal played Dent and Wayne's love interest Rachel Dawes in "The Dark Knight." She's since directed her first movie.

After taking over the role of assistant district attorney Rachel Dawes from Katie Holmes in "The Dark Knight" and getting kidnapped by the Joker, Gyllenhaal was nominated for best supporting actress at the 2010 Oscars for her role in "Crazy Heart."

Gyllenhaal has since starred in 2010's "Nanny McPhee" sequel, 2013's "White House Down," and TV show "The Deuce."

Recently, Gyllenhaal wrote and directed her first film, "The Lost Daughter," which received noms for best actress, best supporting actress, and best adapted screenplay at the 94th Oscars.

Cillian Murphy appears as the Scarecrow in "The Dark Knight" and currently stars in Christopher Nolan's latest movie, "Oppenheimer."

After playing the main villain in "Batman Begins," Murphy makes a brief appearance at the start of "The Dark Knight" as the Scarecrow.

The Irish actor originally auditioned to play the Caped Crusader, telling Marc Maron in July 2023 that he knew he was the "wrong" choice for the role when he put on Val Kilmer's Batsuit.

Murphy went on to star in "Peaky Blinders," reunited with Nolan in "Inception," and appeared in "A Quiet Place Part II" before Nolan approached the actor to star as the father of the atomic bomb in "Oppenheimer."

David Dastmalchian had a small, but important role in "The Dark Knight" and has since become a leading man in Hollywood.

Dastmalchian's first role was in "The Dark Knight" as one of the Joker's henchmen who takes aim at the mayor.

Since then, the actor's appeared in "Prisoners," Marvel's "Ant-Man" franchise, DC's "The Flash" TV series as a villain, and "Blade Runner 2049."

In 2021, he played Polka-Dot Man in "The Suicide Squad," sharing a profound connection with the character. This summer, he starred in the adaptation of Stephen King's "The Boogeyman" and "The Last Voyage of the Demeter" in addition to reuniting with Nolan in "Oppenheimer."

Additionally a comic-book writer, Dastmalchian's horror comic "Count Crowley" debuted in 2019.

Morgan Freeman was Wayne Enterprises' CEO Lucius Fox who made sure Batman had all his cool tech and gear.

In the past decade and a half, Freeman has appeared in over 50 movies and TV shows, including "Now You See Me" and its sequel, "The Lego Movie," "Ted 2," "Madam Secretary," and the "Olympus Has Fallen" franchise along with "The Dark Knight" costar Aaron Eckhart.

In 2010, Freeman became the announcer for the CBS Evening News, and four years later, he turned his Mississippi ranch into a bee sanctuary in an effort to help save bees.

In 2018, Freeman was accused of harassment and "inappropriate comments" on film sets by multiple women. One of these women later told Essence her comments were taken out of context.

Michael Caine continued to work with Nolan after playing Bruce Wayne's loyal butler, Alfred.

Caine appeared in Nolan's next films, including 2010's "Inception" and 2014's "Interstellar," 2017's "Dunkirk," and 2020's "Tenet." He also reunited with Freeman in the "Now You See Me" franchise.

In 2020, the actor told The Hindu he was surprised when Nolan asked him to play Alfred and said working on "The Dark Knight" trilogy was "one of the greatest things" he's done in his life.

Caine's set to star in an upcoming drama this fall called "The Great Escaper," which follows a World War II vet who breaks out of a nursing home to celebrate the 70th anniversary of D-Day in France.

Anthony Michael Hall had a minor role as a news reporter in the DC film. He's appeared in many movies and TV shows since.

Hall played reporter Mike Engel who was kidnapped by the Joker in the sequel.

Since "The Dark Knight," Hall appeared on ABC's "The Goldbergs" and, most recently, 2021's "Halloween Kills."

Néstor Carbonell played mayor Anthony Garcia in the Batman film. Carbonell currently stars on "The Morning Show," which is airing its third seasonon Apple TV+.

The "Lost" actor then starred as the sheriff and directed episodes of A&E's "Bates Motel."

He went on to make appearances in "The Good Wife," "Person of Interest," and "Ray Donovan."

William Fichtner played the bank manager who bravely went up against the Joker at the film's start. Fichtner has since appeared in a number of films.

His movies include "The Lone Ranger," "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," and 2016's "Independence Day" sequel.

Recently, Fichtner appeared in the quietly-released 2023 film "Hypnotic," starring Ben Affleck, which bombed.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7o8HSoqWeq6Oeu7S1w56pZ5ufony1tMRmm5qqm2K4r7XGoatmm5GowW7Ax56lZqafrHqxtM6tpqxlYmV%2FdHmY