Christian Bale’s journey of cementing himself as one of the most disciplined stars in Hollywood wasn’t always easy, as the actor had to sustain several pushbacks during his climb to the top. One of the major problems that the actor endured while finding his footing in the industry was during his selection process for American Psycho.
Although the movie wasn’t the biggest hit upon its release, it did ignite Bale’s rise to the top. Over the years, the movie has garnered a huge following, and it’s impossible to imagine anyone as Patrick Bateman except Christian Bale. However, working on the movie wasn’t Bale’s greatest experience, as he was severely underpaid for the role.
Christian Bale was severely underpaid for American Psycho
Adapting Bret Easton Ellis’s controversial novel on the big screen was a challenging task for director Mary Harron, as the Studios tried to enforce their choices on Harron’s vision for the movie. But one of her biggest challenges was getting Christian Bale at the forefront of the project, as the Studio executives were against the decision of casting a young Bale in the role. Eventually, they agreed to Harron’s choices, but considering that they didn’t believe in Bale’s potential at the time, they offered him a bare minimum salary for the job. Bale explained the situation by stating,
“They had paid me the absolute minimum they were legally allowed to pay me… But I remember one time sitting in the make-up trailer and the make-up artists were laughing at me because I was getting paid less than any of them,”
Despite being treated unfairly for the project, Bale gave his all for the role to ensure that Harron’s vision for the movie was fulfilled and the rest is history. But surprisingly, before The Dark Knight star was finalized for the role, actors like Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, and Leonardo DiCaprio were reportedly offered to star in the project. Bale even once thanked DiCaprio for rejecting the role, which pushed him to stardom.
Christian Bale once thanked Leonardo DiCaprio for rejecting American Psycho
Following Leonardo DiCaprio‘s success after starring in James Cameron’s Titanic, the actor was once approached to star in American Psycho. However, the actor reportedly declined the offer, as he didn’t find the script too intriguing. Christian Bale later opened up about the fact that before he was cast in some of his most notable roles, DiCaprio was the first choice for those projects, including American Psycho. Bale then jokingly thanked the actor for rejecting those offers by stating,
“It doesn’t matter how friendly you are with the directors. All those people that I’ve worked with multiple times, they all offered every one of those roles to him first. Right? I had one of those people tell me that. So, thank you, Leo, because literally, he gets to choose everything he does. And good for him, he’s phenomenal.”
Even though it would be engrossing to witness DiCaprio’s version of Patrick Bateman, considering that this role ignited Bale’s rise to the top, things did work out for the best.
American Psycho is available to stream on Apple TV.
Source: GQ
