Christian Bale’s radical physical transformations can easily pass for his modus operandi when it comes to films. From shedding weight like a second skin to putting on more than just a few pounds, The Dark Knight star has left no stone unturned when it comes to perfecting his on-screen characters.
Take The Machinist, for instance, a 2000s psychological thriller starring Bale for which he practically emaciated himself to attain the sickly pale and hollow appearance of the protagonist. Despite nearly starving himself for the role, however, Bale had far from a bad experience throughout the movie. If anything, he had a bewilderingly good time.
Christian Bale’s Unexpected Remark About His Drastic Weight Loss
Brad Anderson’s The Machinist marks one of the most staggering metamorphoses that Christian Bale has undergone for a movie role. While Bale, 50, nailed it as the insomniac machinist in the 2004 film, it was a grueling feat, to say the least.
The Oscar-winning actor was surviving on only black coffee coupled with an apple and a tin of tuna at most a day (via Men’s Health). Bale also resorted to the dangerous companionship of nicotine as smoking further aided his extreme weight loss (via Daily Mail). And yet, he found the exacting task of sustaining on less than 200 calories per day and dropping a third of his weight soothing. Yup, you read that right.
In an old interview with Radio Free, the Vice star confessed that the challenge of “slightly self-destructive urges” that inevitably followed such an extreme weight loss was enticing to him. More importantly, however, Bale felt perhaps more peaceful and mentally content than he’d ever felt in his life.
It ended up being a very nice place mentally to be when you get that skinny. Man, you’re calm, you know? Because you just can’t waste any energy whatsoever. So you just do what’s necessary. I was incredibly happy.
Other people probably couldn’t have told that because I didn’t really have the energy to smile too much for them. But inside, I was genuinely probably more content for a longer period of time than I’ve ever been in my entire life.
Well, that’s one way of describing starvation but hey, at least Bale could find the silver lining in it.
The One Food Christian Bale Wasn’t Immune to During His Transformation
Nobody can turn away a good cheeseburger and at the end of the day, Bale is also human.
While talking to the Chicago Tribune, the American Psycho star admitted that the temptation of a cheeseburger was too strong for even him to resist. So, he stopped going out to eat with others lest he betray his strict regime and turn into a “wolf” at the mere whiff of food.
I chose not to go eat with anybody because the second I saw or smelled that food, I was like a wolf. And I had a couple of times when I did do that. And I ate five meals in one go. And obviously, my stomach wasn’t prepared for that. And I felt terrible afterward. So I just said, ‘I can’t do that.’ Because you do; you want a cheeseburger every day.
Bale’s arduous efforts did pay off though, with critics showering The Machinist with positive reviews and lauding the actor’s gripping performance as the mentally unstable, gaunt lead.
The Machinist can be streamed on Paramount+ or rented on Apple TV+.
