No other actor can top what Christian Bale did to his body just to portray different movie roles. He went from bulked up to obese, from super skinny to being ripped again. Sometimes he would transform his body with just a couple of months in between filming.
From a health and fitness point of view, this is extremely dangerous, though Bale seemed to have realized that his body could no longer tolerate these kinds of drastic changes. Looking back, he had some of his most insane weight losses and gains in his early 2000s films.
Christian Bale Sacrificed His Health And Ate Nothing While Filming His Most Demanding Projects
In the 2012 book Christian Bale: The Inside Story of the Darkest Batman by Harrison Cheung and Nicola Pittam, Christian Bale revealed he did not enjoy working out for his role in the 2000 film American Psycho. He stated:
“The character is so vain and obsessed with his looks. While the psychology of the character was something that I could perform, you can’t fake the physicality. Working out is incredibly boring. I swear it’s true that the bigger your muscles get, the fewer brain cells you have. I did three hours a day for six weeks with a personal trainer and some time before that. I ate an awful lot during training and then almost nothing during filming.”
This was the first time he tried to get fit for a movie project, but the 2004 film The Machinist pushed the actor’s body to its limit. He lost around 27 kilograms in four months, eating nothing during the process. Bale told GQ:
“I would say in hindsight that perhaps I went a little too far. Not in a way that was particularly dangerous, but it certainly got, shall we say, interesting, in ways that friends and family noticed – and didn’t particularly enjoy. And for me, just because you finish filming and the sets are dismantled, and you go home, it can be a difficult, long process to find your normal self again.”
Interestingly, Bale had to immediately get fit and bulked up again for his most iconic role as Bruce Wayne/Batman in 2005’s Batman Begins.
Christian Bale Is Done With Extreme Body Transformations
During an interview with E! News, Christian Bale admitted he has given up on body transformations for movie roles. He said:
“I’ve become a little bit more boring now because I’m older, and I feel like if I keep doing what I’ve done in the past, I’m going to die. So, I’d prefer not to die.”
Apparently, Bale considered quitting acting altogether after his work on The Machinist. He was not worried about not ever getting a job again, but he knew deep inside that he was in trouble. He admitted he had made wrong choices when it came to accepting projects.
The actor also confessed that his family and friends grew concerned for his well-being after he had been seen staring at walls for hours on end. Despite the struggles he faced, Bale credited the movie for becoming his wake-up call.
