Christian Bale visits victims of shooting at Colorado hospital

'The Dark Knight Rises' star asked that the media not be notified beforehand.

After the horrific mass shooting at a Friday night screening of The Dark Knight Rises in Aurora, Colorado, Warner Bros. opted to cancel the film’s Paris premiere, as well as several other events around the world.

That was fine for actor Christian Bale though, who spent his time away from the red carpet doing something more constructive: visiting the hospital where seven victims of the tragedy were recovering from their injuries.

According to a report in the Denver Post, the Batman star visited with victims for two and a half hours on Tuesday afternoon and also spent time with several doctors, nursing staff, police officers, and emergency medical technicians.

While a cynic might try and dismiss Bale’s visit as an act of vanity, that couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, Bale specifically requested that the media not be notified of his visit so that he could spend his time talking with the injured.

Over the weekend, Bale released an official statement about the shooting, saying, “I cannot begin to truly understand the pain and grief of the victims and their loved ones, but my heart goes out to them.” With his visit, Bale put actions behind his words, hopefully providing a moment of enjoyment for seven people who sorely needed it.

The perpetrator of the theater massacre – 24-year-old James Holmes – made his first appearance in court yesterday and is expected to be formally charged next Monday. While there is no doubt that Holmes is guilty of the crimes, the case will still likely take some time to make its way through the court system.

However, that is nothing compared to the time it will take many of the victims to recover from their wounds – both mentally and physically. Perhaps Bale’s visit, while modest in its scope, can help some of the victims accelerate that process.

Rob Frappier blogs at Screen Rant.