Christian Bale’s impact on the acting industry is eternal. Beginning his long acting career as a child, his extraordinary transformation into Jamie Graham in Steven Spielberg’s World War II epic Empire of the Sun at the tender age of 13 showcased his remarkable range. Absolutely! Not only that, but it did set the stage for a future full of complex characters.
His progression took him through roles from the musical film Newsies to the period drama Little Women, all of which mirrored his capacity to adapt any character & win our hearts. Yet, it was his intense immersion into the role of Patrick Bateman in American Psycho that truly redefined his stardom.
Apart from the on-screen characters he plays, Bale’s dedication is exemplified by an anecdote he shared with GQ, wherein he recounted his resolute efforts to protect his role in Mary Harron’s film in the event of a possible recast.
Christian Bale’s Strategic Tactics to Defend His Role as Patrick Bateman
Christian Bale has come a long way. The talented actor has tackled a variety of roles throughout his career. But it was his portrayal of Patrick Bateman in American Psycho that truly solidified his status as a star.
In a 2019 interview with GQ, the Pembrokeshire-born actor, 50, revealed that he and director Mary Harron had worked tirelessly to bring the film to life, only to be kicked off the project by financiers:
There’s a little more [to it] than that. Mary Harron [the director] and me, we’d done staged readings in New York to get the financing for it. Willem Dafoe was with us. And it was our thing. Then we got financiers and then the financiers kicked us off it. We were like, ‘Wait, this wasn’t how it was meant to be, was it?’
Bale later confirmed that he had contacted other actors and advised them against accepting the role in the 2000 satirical psychological horror film:
I’d just been obsessing on doing this – months and months of nothing but thinking about that – and then it was going to a few other actors. So I would drop them a call and just sort of say, “Grrr.”
Despite this setback, the actor’s commitment to the role and his dedication to the character of Bateman ultimately paid off. For the unversed, American Psycho is based on the popular Bret Easton Ellis novel of the same title.
With Bale’s performance as the deranged killer being universally praised, the film made over $34 million on a $7 million budget (Box Office Mojo).
Behind the Scenes: Christian Bale’s Terrifying Ordeal for American Psycho
Christian Bale’s devotion to his hard work both on and off screen didn’t go unnoticed, as he revealed in another interview with GQ that he had even been threatened by individuals who objected to the film.
In today’s world, it’s not uncommon for actors to face backlash and criticism for the roles they choose to take on. Recognizing that some people deliberately avoided seeing the film, Bale cited a friend of his who informed him that there was an effort to physically harm the actor because of the film:
I remember somebody threatening me on the street, ’cause some people did object to the film getting made and all that. And I remember people saying that they were gonna do me harm and stuff like that…Somebody warned me, it must’ve been a friend of mine, it was crazy early on the internet, and they called me up…
In the case of the film that spurred these threats, it’s clear that Bale’s performance struck a nerve with some people. However, instead of backing down, the actor saw these threats as a challenge and even went as far as to seek out the alley where he was supposedly going to be attacked:
So of course, I was like, ‘I’m going to that alley. I want to see what happens’. Fortunate enough, I kept walking up and down it going, ‘Where are they? Come on.’ [Laughs]
This level of fearlessness & tenacity is what sets the Batman Begins star apart from his peers in the movie business. It takes a special kind of courage to be willing to face danger in order to bring a character to life, and Bale’s willingness to do so speaks volumes about his passion for his job.
American Psycho, also starring Justin Theroux, is streaming on Peacock.
