Playing A Detective Again: Gary Dourdan Featured In 'Batman: Gotham Knight'

He may or may not be gone from CSI, but his dectective work is still on display as Gary Dourdan voices a character in 'Batman: Gotham Knight', which is now available on DVD.

'Batman: Gotham Knight' is a 2008 animated direct-to-DVD anthology film of six animated short films set in-between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. The film uses a Japanese anime style for the animation.

Dourdan's role is the first animated appearance of Crispus Allen. His character was made famous in DC Comics' Gotham Central comics series (although his first appearance dates back to Detective Comics). Crispus Allen shows up in three different segments of the six-segment film, Batman Gotham Knight.

What attracted you to do the voice character of Crispus Allen?

Gary Dourdan: What got me to do this character was the project, the animation. I always wanted to do more animation voiceover stuff, so the opportunity came along and I jumped on it. Plus, it's a Batman project so how could I say no.

Did you go after this or did they come after you?

GD: They came to me. I was very flattered that they wanted me to do the voiceover. The animation on this is great. When I did 'Alien: Resurrection', a lot of the guys worked on planned production, and one of them was really into comic books and would draw all sorts of characters and I was impressed with his sketches.

How much did you know about the character you were playing?

GD: I didn't know much. When I read the script and saw what they were doing, and I wasn't familiar with the way they had the story, but I was pleased with what they had installed for me to do.

When Crispus first appears in 'Crossfire', he seems indifferent to the positive reaction that Batman has been receiving. Why do you suppose that's the case?

GD: The reason he acts that way is because he's not sure which side Batman is really on. If he's on the side of the law or the opposite, but eventually the two come to an understanding of one another.

Did you go back to the comic books to get a background on who Crispus is?

GD: No, I didn't actually. Everything was happening so fast and when they told me about this project, by the time they got me the material, it was time to start taping my scenes. From reading the script, I got a sense of who he is.

How is it voicing a character as oppose to shooting a scene? Is the work a bit easier?

GD: I have done other voiceovers and it also depends on the project. This one was actually cool because we did it to the anime, and it was something new for me. Putting my voice to their picture was something new for them as well. It was interesting watching these guys put sketches to my voice. I can't imagine how Sam Jackson did it with 'Afro Smuarai', but it's not easy I can you tell that.