In 1989, Tim Burton gave Batman a much-needed facelift. Before the 1989 film, when people heard the words “live-action Batman,” their minds raced to Adam West doing the Batusi. Burton’s Batman perfectly balanced the comic’s uniquely dark aesthetic with a healthy dose of action scenes and comedy – not to mention an incredible and timeless performance by Jack Nicholson as the Joker.
The movie is also unique in that it gave the Joker a more detailed backstory compared to Nolan’s The Dark Knight. Here, he’s Jack Napier: a mobster who also happens to be the man who killed the Waynes, thus creating Batman. While Nicholson played Napier for most of the film, some of the scenes featuring a younger Napier required a younger actor, and that’s where Hugo Blick came in.
Blick was born on December 7, 1964, making him almost thirty years younger than Jack Nicholson (born in 1937). 1989’s Batman would be Blick’s first foray into professional acting – and what an impression he made. Not only was he a dead ringer for a young Jack Nicholson, but he had a killer Joker smile that definitely stole the show in the only scene he had in the film.
Perhaps his greatest achievement in Batman was establishing the legendary Joker (Jack Napier) line, “Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?” It became a trademark of Burton’s Joker, and the scene where Blick delivers that line is simply perfect for the movie’s vibe.
Batman affirmed Blick’s love for filmmaking. Also in 1989, he joined the cast of Blackadder Goes Forth, the fourth season (or rather, series) in the BBC’s iconic comedy starring Rowan Atkinson. That was only the first in a string of comedies he would appear in throughout the 90s.
From The Wind in the Willows to the mockumentary Operation Good Guys, Blick became accustomed to a wide variety of comedy genres. He would also extend his work behind the scenes, beginning to work as a producer and screenwriter, including more comedies like A Small Summer Party and Sensitive Skin – all shot in his native England.
After 2010’s Roger & Val Have Just Got In, Blick traded comedy for primetime drama. He developed 2011’s The Shadow Line, starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, followed by 2014’s The Honourable Woman, a series in which he directed Maggie Gyllenhaal – and also helped her achieve a Golden Globe for her performance.
In 2018, Blick wrote and directed Black Earth Rising, a tense thriller about the prosecution of war criminals that achieved international recognition in 2019, when Netflix made the show available worldwide. The series would also see Blick’s return to acting since 2005’s Sensitive Skin.
More recently, Hugo Blick has remained quite busy with show business. In 2022, he developed The English, with Emily Blunt, and released it on Amazon Prime Video for an international audience. He’s currently developing a new BBC One drama series called California Avenue, with Bill Nighy and Helena Bonham Carter. Just like Burton’s Jack Napier Joker, Hugo Blick’s career has been the perfect mix of drama and comedy, and he has smoothly excelled at both.
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