Entertainment Movies Historical Movies Paul Dano Shot One 'The Batman' Scene Around 200 Times to Get It Just Right, Says Director The Batman, starring Paul Dano as the Riddler and Robert Pattinson as Batman, hits theaters on Friday By Abigail Adams Abigail Adams Abigail Adams is a Human Interest Writer and Reporter for PEOPLE. She has been working in journalism for seven years. People Editorial Guidelines Published on March 3, 2022 02:52PM EST Photo: Joe Maher/Getty Paul Dano can apparently be incredibly meticulous when it comes to his craft. In a Hollywood Reporter profile of the 37-year-old actor, published Wednesday, The Batman director Matt Reeves claimed Dano took around 200 takes to get one specific scene just right, per the outlet. Dano and Reeves sat in opposite rooms as the actor performed a scene in which his character, the Riddler, speaks to Batman, played by Robert Pattinson, through a cellphone video. Reeves said Dano requested they reshoot the sequence multiple times, "directing this one-person play on an iPhone." According to the director, Dano was "very critical of himself" and took his role as the Riddler incredibly seriously. Paul Archuleta/WireImage. Watch Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne in Heart-Pounding Scene from The Batman While filming the scene, Reeves recalled Dano saying things like, "OK, let me try one where I'm off camera and I stick my head in," and "Let me try one where I'm already sitting there," between takes. "It was the giddiness that really got to me," Reeves told THR. "Calling out the passing time, like he was a game show host. He was so inventive and creative." Dano is joined by Pattinson, 35, and several other stars — including Zoë Kravitz, Andy Serkis, Jeffrey Wright, Peter Sarsgaard and Colin Farrell — in the latest Batman film. In 2019, THR confirmed that Dano would take over the role of the Riddler from Jim Carrey, who previously played Riddler in 1995's Batman Forever opposite Val Kilmer, Chris O'Donnell, Nicole Kidman, Tommy Lee Jones and Drew Barrymore. Dano told THR that he grew up adoring Carrey's portrayal of the Riddler. Joe Maher/Getty Critics Praise The Batman's Darker Tone, 'Very Hot' Chemistry Between Robert Pattinson and Zoë Kravitz Describing his own portrayal of the villain, Dano told the outlet, "This is a guy who survived by finding a way to focus his brain on something apart from his own thoughts and trauma and pain." Additionally, Dano was open to considering the Riddler as a possible Wordle fan. "That actually was very important to my backstory — not Wordle, literally — but the idea that puzzles were the only place that he would be given any form of positive feedback in his life," the actor explained in the profile. "They were the only thing that ever said to him in his whole life, 'You win.' " The Batman hit theaters on Friday.