EXCLUSIVE: Read it here first...

Christian Bale: A "Kindred Spirit" to Heath Ledger

Wed., Jun. 25, 2008 1:23 PM PDT by Marc Malkin

Parade Magazine

Christian Bale wants people to know Heath Ledger's work as the twisted and morose Joker in The Dark Knight was just that—work!

"I hope in a small way that The Dark Knight can be a celebration of his work," Bale says in the new issue of Parade magazine. "Not like the hideous circus after he died, which I felt was an invasion of a private life. This movie is not a personal home video. This is what he did. I hope people will embrace that in the correct fashion."

Bale misses his late costar dearly. "He was a unique character, a very infectious character," he says. "He was a good man, and I was glad to have spent time with him…He was something of a kindred spirit to myself."

Bale also opens up about his own life, including spending much of his childhood on the road because his mother was a circus dancer. These days, he lives a much more stable existence with his wife, Sibi, and their three-year-old daughter (whose name Bale refuses to reveal publicly).

"There's a hard line you find in yourself when you become a parent, an absolute belief that cannot be questioned," he says. "It's something that you will kill and die for in a way that you never experienced before. I've always enjoyed the gray in life. This is an area of total black and white. This is something that is unquestionable."