Christian Bale is known for taking method acting to extreme levels. The Hollywood star is famous for his physical transformations in order to fit into his roles. He lost weight, gained weight and muscles, and has done almost everything to fit in the given role. His last body transformation was for the 2019 film Ford v Ferrari, in which he had to lose the weight he gained for the 2018 film Vice. Bale shared that he had to lose 70-pound cause he was not able to fit into cars in Ford v Ferrari.
Bale also starred in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy. He portrayed Batman from 2008 to 2012. Although Christopher Nolan made several changes to the character, Bale’s Batman is still considered one of the best iterations of the caped crusader. The Batman Begins star once again went through extreme measures to fit into the role of Batman.
Christian Bale Gained Too Much Weight for Batman Begins
Before starring in Batman Begins as the lead, Christian Bale was featured in The Machinist. He played Trevor, an insomniac lathe operator in the 2004 film, and lost 63 pounds within four months for the film. However, soon after The Machinist wrapped up, he had to prepare for his role in the Christopher Nolan film.
He had five months to gain weight to fit into the role of Batman. Seeing his condition at the time, Christopher Nolan advised him to gain weight. The American Psycho star shared he did so by eating Pizza and Ice-creams. Bale also shared that he was eating five meals in a sitting, after which he was able to gain 100 pounds. However, Bale soon realized that he overdid it.
“I overdid it because I was enjoying gorging. I was ignoring advice about taking it slowly because my stomach had shrunk,” Christian Bale shared in an interview.
The Amsterdam star also shared that he was advised to go with soups and lighter food. He said that he wanted to get as big as he could for the film. Bale followed the director’s instructions to get bulked up but he still didn’t have the right look for the character.
Christopher Nolan Asked Christian Bale to Lose a Few Pounds
After Christian Bale lost a huge amount of weight for The Machinist, Christopher Nolan told him to get as big as he possibly could. And the Prestige star did just that as he gained 100 pounds for his film.
However, it was too much for the character. Christian Bale shared the crew’s reaction to seeing him after he got all bulked up, who asked him if he was doing Fatman or Batman.
There were even doubts if he would fit the Batman suit or not. After this, director Christopher Nolan asked him to lose a few pounds. He did lose some weight while maintaining as much muscle as he could. The Dark Kight star has shared that he had to follow a tight schedule. But he managed to lose the weight before filming started.
He continued training for the second film in the trilogy. He gained muscles and had a balanced diet while preparing for The Dark Knight. However, the actor revealed that he did not follow an intense schedule for the last film, The Dark Knight Rises, as it focused on an older Batman.
Followed by his last transformation in Ford v Ferrari, the English actor has said that he’s not planning any more physical transformations in the future. “I can’t keep doing it, I really can’t. My mortality is staring me in the face,” he shared.
He has been concerned about his health and his advancing age is making it even harder for him to continue doing it. But he still continues to impress everyone with his performances. Christian Bale was last seen in Amsterdam.
He will be back on the big screen with his upcoming film The Pale Blue Eye, which is set to release on 23 December 2022.
Source: YouTube
