Batman takes on The Geek

"Dead Zone" star Anthony Michael Hall reports the plot of the latest Batman saga, "The Dark Knight," is so secret he's forbidden to even say what character he's portraying.

"I signed a confidentiality agreement, and I can't say which part I'm playing because it affects the story," says Hall. "I can't give away the suspense — it's a $200 million surprise, and I don't want to be the guy to ruin it."

He adds, "I'm excited about it — Christian Bale back as Batman. Heath Ledger is joining the cast as the Joker. Of course, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine return, and they're great."
Hall, who's in the midst of shooting the sixth season of "The Dead Zone," which returns to the USA Network June 17, says his TV series cast and crew bent over backward for him to be in London for the first day of "Dark Knight" production the weekend before last.

"My crew agreed to take a three-day weekend so I could fly Friday to go to London," says the actor, who's also one of the series' producers. "It was just a thrill. I felt like a rock star leaving the set, flying to London, going to shoot on a Saturday, you know?" He adds, "My crew really gave me a gift because they had to all vote union-wise to agree to not take a day's pay to help me out. I felt very honored that they did that for me."

He says he's not scheduled to rejoin "The Dark Knight" shooting till August, after "The Dead Zone" is wrapped.
"They're shooting in London, Chicago and Hong Kong. My next dates are in Chicago, the third week of August with Morgan, then I get to go back to London."
He adds he's never been a comic-book fan, but "I loved the 'Batman' series, so Batman has truly always meant something to me. It's really been one of my dreams as an actor to become Batman."
For now, he's just happy flying in the same airspace. "It's really a great role. I'm in throughout the whole movie, and I'm really looking forward to working with Christian and Morgan and all these real Hollywood heavy hitters."