While preparing for his characters, Christian Bale leaves absolutely no stone unturned in order to bring perfection to the screen.
Contrary to the popular idea, one can never truly 'become' the character in their performance. Even if you talk about method acting, it never states that - and the concept has largely been misinterpreted. Because there are several other things - particularly the technical aspects of performances - involved in the process that the actor has to keep in mind. Having said that, the goal is to get as close as possible to the character - first from inside to the outside, and then from outside to the inside. And the latter is about looking like the character (again, as close as possible) on the screen, making the performance convincing, and impactful.
Christian Bale - inarguably one of the world's greatest film actors today - never shies away from undergoing extreme physical transformations for his roles. There have been several instances where he pushed all his boundaries and did something that left the world in awe. Today, on his 51st birthday, let's revisit some of those in this article.
'American Psycho' was the breakthrough for Bale, where he showcased what he is truly capable of. To play his character, Patrick Bateman - one who is obsessed with his appearance - Bale had to develop a lean physique with six-pack abs.
The actor was in his mid-20s at that time and didn't have the required physique for the role. However, he took the challenge and did whatever he could to achieve his goal. He maintained a strict diet and workout regimen for months and eventually became obsessed with the process. As he later said in an interview with The Guardian, "Working out took over my life. I became fascinated with talking about the body, and diet, and the gym. It made me very judgmental of other people's bodies as well."
Name a Performance That Was Robbed of an Oscar Nomination
— The Oscar Race (@TheOscarRace) January 5, 2025
Mine: Christian Bale in AMERICAN PSYCHO pic.twitter.com/hhn9xo8Z5K
(Credit: The Oscar Race)
And it didn't end there - he also worked on his teeth to bring perfection to the screen. In his words, "I liked my old teeth. But with Patrick Bateman, his physicality is much more important than with most characters. He deals totally in the superficial, and he's incredibly narcissistic."
Speaking about Christian Bale's physical transformations for his roles, 'The Machinist' is something that we can never talk enough of. In the 2004 thriller, he played Trevor Reznik - an insomniac machine worker dealing with hallucinations and several other issues.
Bale lost over 60 pounds to play the character - so extreme that his survival was at risk. While speaking with The Guardian about the same, he said, "When you're so skinny that you can hardly walk up a flight of stairs ... you're, like, this being of pure thought. It's like you've abandoned your body. That's the most Zen-like state I've ever been in my life. Two hours sleep, reading a book for 10 hours straight without stopping ... unbelievable. You couldn't rile me up. No rollercoaster of emotions. As soon as you start putting the food back in your stomach, the roller coaster comes back."
After losing weight for 'The Machinist', Bale had to gain it back in order to play Batman in Christopher Nolan's 'Batman Begins'. And - please hold your breath - he had to put on over 100 pounds for that.
His body was in a vulnerable state at that time (due to such rapid transformations). But it's Christian Bale, you know - so he turned his difficulties into opportunities quite successfully. However, that's not the end, as he went so far in that process that he had to later shed some pounds before filming.
In his interview with Femme Fatales, the actor said, "Batman is one of those parts you have to be in decent shape for. I ate like crazy, trying to put on pounds. I actually went way overboard."
Well, Christian Bale immerses himself into his characters and ensures to deliver nothing but the best. Besides the above-mentioned films, some other examples are 'Rescue Dawn', 'Ford Vs Ferrari', 'American Hustle', and 'Vice'.
