Heath Ledger grabs Senator Leahy's head, and thrusts a knife in his face. The Senator freezes...

NYT: Holy Cameo, Batman! It’s a Senator!
By PAM BELLUCK
Published: July 12, 2008


(Warner Brothers Pictures)
The Joker (Heath Ledger) holding a knife on Senator Patrick J. Leahy, a huge fan of Batman, in the new Batman film, “The Dark Knight.”

The senior senator from Vermont is in a large room packed with people when an unruly citizen bursts in making loud, unreasonable demands. Anyone can see that a gavel to order is not going to work with this joker. He’s harassing people, and he’s got a gun.

The senator steps forward. “We’re not intimidated by you thugs,” he says. The man, saying, “You remind me of my father — I hated my father,” grabs the senator’s head, and thrusts a knife to his face. The senator freezes, eyes wide.

Not your typical Capitol Hill brouhaha. No, this scene is pure Hollywood, straight out of the new Batman movie, “The Dark Knight.” But that really is the senior senator from Vermont: Patrick J. Leahy — Democrat, Judiciary Committee chairman and lifelong Batman fan — has a cameo in the film and gets to be held at knifepoint by Heath Ledger’s Joker....

***

Mr. Leahy had a nonspeaking cameo in the 1997 film “Batman and Robin,” did a voice-over for the part of a governor in a Batman cartoon, and wrote the prefaces for a “Batman” anthology and a Batman comic book about the danger of land mines. Once he was spotted doing wheelies on his grandson’s toy Batmobile down the long marble hall outside his Senate office.

He donates all Batman earnings to the children’s wing of the Kellogg-Hubbard Library in Montpelier....

***

So how did Mr. Leahy manage to find his character’s motivation? Was he thinking of Vice President Dick Cheney, who in 2004 used profanity to curse Mr. Leahy on the Senate floor? “No, I wasn’t visualizing Dick Cheney,” Mr. Leahy said. “They can’t use that dialogue in a PG-13 movie.”

Wham!

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/12/washington/12leahy.html

That's a good story.

Great line. As someone else mentioned, I like him even more, now. Especially the doing wheelies down the senate hall (grandsons have a way of bringing the boy out of us men :) )

on edit: can't wait until payday so I can see the new one. Batman Begins was the first good Batman movie, this one looks like it will be right there with it.

Did he get one for Brokeback Mountain (just saw that for the first time the other day)?

He did a good job of showing the inner conflict of his character.

From everything I have heard and read, this new Batman will be great. I'm not sure I will ever feel a new Batman is up to the snuff of Tim Burton, Michael Keaton, and Jack Nicholson though, the original "serious" batman movie was just too good to top.

It must be great to be able to take part in a series you have enjoyed your whole life, I envy Mr. Leahy.