Christian Bale is widely known as one of the most versatile actors in the industry. He has led many iconic roles and never hesitates to go through intense transformation for the parts. However, the actor has also thanked Leonardo DiCaprio for playing a significant role in his career. Bale thinks that he could never have been so successful if it were not for the films that were rejected by DiCaprio.
The story dates back to James Cameron’s Titanic. Reportedly, Christian Bale also auditioned for a significant role in the film before Leonardo DiCaprio snatched away the role of Jack Dawson. It cannot be denied that the James Cameron film could have been a crucial blockbuster in the Batman actor’s career. But fortunately, Bale got his reward when Leonardo DiCaprio passed on American Psycho, and the former delivered one of the finest performances of his career.
How did Christian Bale get his role in American Psycho?
The character of Patrick Bateman is currently one of the most iconic pop culture phenomena. American Psycho gave us one of the standout performances by Christian Bale that went on to be a cult classic over the years. When Christian Bale sat for a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, Scott Cooper asked him if he had auditioned for Titanic– “Didn’t you audition for that?”
The Amsterdam actor replied that he did audition for that but he got rejected:
“I wasn’t going to go into that, but yes…I am really bad at auditions. I’m terrible. I’ve never been good at them…I can’t do ‘em. They’re nothing like working. They’re not related in the slightest.”
If Bale’s publicist, Harrison Cheung, is believed then the primary reason for the Patrick Bateman fame’s rejection was his British accent. However, Cheung in his book, Christian Bale – The Story of the Darkest Batman, also mentioned DiCaprio as a nemesis of Bale. According to him, the latter lost several films to the Django Unchained actor. Yet, Christian Bale, during an interview with GQ thanked Leonardo DiCaprio for passing on roles like American Psycho.
“Look, to this day, any role that anybody gets, it’s only because he’s passed on it beforehand. It doesn’t matter what anyone tells you. 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. So, thank you, Leo, because literally, he gets to choose everything he does. And good for him, he’s phenomenal.”
While addressing the fact that Leonardo DiCaprio got primary preference over him in some projects, Christian Bale portrayed a very practical approach. He was humble enough to admit that DiCaprio could do certain things that he couldn’t and that passing on roles should never be taken personally. On the other hand, it must also be noted that DiCaprio’s passing of American Psycho was a major win for Bale.
Christian Bale was paid the absolute minimum for American Psycho
American Psycho focused on New York City investment banker, Patrick Bateman, who led a double life as a serial killer. The film is renowned for its intense graphic nature and a magnificent performance by Christian Bale. Interestingly, nobody associated with the film except the director, Mary Harron wanted Bale to play the part.
Bale admitted to GQ that he was paid the absolute minimum by the makers who were much more aligned to casting Leonardo DiCaprio before the latter rejected the film.
“They had paid me the absolute minimum they were legally allowed to pay me. Nobody wanted me to do it except the director. So they said they would only make it if they could pay me that amount. I was prepping for it when other people were playing the part. I was still prepping for it.”
Sadly, the Ford v Ferrari actor almost lost his house and was even paid less than the makeup artists of the movie. Nevertheless, he did not lose hope and delivered a performance that went on to be a cult classic. People still can’t get over his performance as Bateman, which brought him many more successful ventures like The Dark Knight trilogy and the Oscar-winning The Fighter.
American Psycho can be streamed on Peacock Premium.
