With the middle (and arguably best) film in the classic Christopher Nolan Batman series nearing its 10th anniversary (July 18), White granted an interview to discuss his time on the picture, including lessons learned from the late Heath Ledger and Gambol's awkward, ambiguous death scene, plus much more.

Gambol's quietus

Nolan offered White the role of Gambol — the no-nonsense gangster who signed his own death warrant when he tried to tangle with The Joker, brought to life by Ledger in an Oscar-winning performance.

While never a principal role, Gambol was bigger in the script and during production, White says.

"It was the kind of thing where they had deeper intentions for Gambol; it was a character who was written for future use, I think," he says. "There were other plans to do stuff with that character and some things that were cut out. I think it's because of unfortunately losing Heath Ledger."

Calling it a matter of "tying up loose ends," White says he got why Nolan made the choice in postproduction.

So, how exactly did Gambol die? That has been a topic of debate among fans on Reddit for nearly a decade. Was the moment so horrid the ratings board made Nolan cut it? No. The answer is simple, yet complicated.

In the film, Gambol puts a bounty on The Joker ($1 million alive, $500,000 dead) for insulting the gangs of Gotham by stealing their money and infiltrating a meeting. Later, believing The Joker has been killed, the body delivered by another street gang, Gambol readies to pay. It is at that moment The Joker springs to life, killing two of Gambol's men before sticking a knife in Gambol's mouth. He proceeds to tell the gangster that he got his Glasgow smile (cheeks slit from the lips) from his deranged, drunk father. The music hits a bang, a gang member winces at what he witnesses, and Gambol falls to the ground.

That's it.

It turns out, though, Gambol was not written to die, just to get a Glasgow smile of his own, White explains.

"I think that people can tell by the strange cut that I never shot a death scene," White says. "The character wasn't supposed to be gone. That is something that happened in editing later."

He continues, "You don't see mistakes in a movie of that magnitude. When you see something that is somewhat a mistake or is not clarified, there is something behind that."

Fans may have gone back and forth over how Gambol died, but White says he never gave it a second thought. Once the shock of the moment wore off at the premiere, he was over it, the actor tells THR.

"Being that I have been on both sides of the camera, I understood," White says. "I was as surprised as anybody. The next few moments after Gambol hit the ground, I was in a state of confusion, like 'What the hell happened? I guess I am not coming back.' But, I have a producer's and director's mind-set, so I was able to look at it and think, 'I guess they must have wanted to go this way.'"

Magic tricks

A surefire way to piss off White is to speak ill of Ledger.

The gifted actor died Jan. 22, 2008, at the age of 28 from an accidental mixing of prescription drugs.

"It has always upset me that he was put in this category of being a drug-addled, irresponsible type of actor. That gets me aggravated," White says.

It was speculated at the time of his death that Ledger went total method to become The Joker, which took a toll on his mind-set. White says he doesn't buy that theory.

"It upsets me that Heath gets put in a category, like he was a method actor who inhabited this darkness that consumed him because people write that story in their head," he says. "And that couldn't have been further from the truth. Heath was playful. When the director would say 'cut,' he would go back to this easygoing, very affable type of guy. Even when there was a day player or people in shorter roles, naturally they tend to give him his privacy and space, but Heath would be on the one initiating the conversation. He was that type of guy."

Some of White's fondest memories from his time on the set were performing magic tricks (no, not like the gruesome pencil one from the movie) with Ledger between takes.

"He and I were trading a lot of magic tricks," White says, chucking. "He picked up some sleight of hand stuff, and I'm kind of an amateur magician myself. So Heath and I shared a lot of tricks on set, and we couldn't wait to finish the shot so we could go back to doing that stuff."

An actor's actor