Christian Bale is undeniably a master actor, known for his physical transformations and method acting. The actor gives his all to every role that he plays, meeting the craziest of demands required to play a character with complete authenticity. There is another person, who loves authenticity a little more than Bale and even Christopher Nolan.
Werner Herzog is a director so in love with authenticity that he can go to extreme levels like starving his cast and dragging them in the mud. Rescue Dawn starring Christian Bale was something similar, it was a harsh shoot and even tested the limits of The Machinist star. But he does not hold a grudge against Herzog, despite being threatened with jail time by the authorities in a foreign country.
Christian Bale loved the rough shoot
The director of Rescue Dawn, Werner Herzog is known for his temper. And his temper ended up landing him in trouble with the authorities while shooting the film. Though the shoot was not a relaxing one, Christian Bale stated that he enjoyed it, the actor even noted in a 2012 interview with GQ,
“When you’re sitting in the [Thai] jungle surrounded by snakes and armed guards, the mind has enough to chew over.”
The actor even claimed that was not hesitant while working with the director who is infamous for tragedies on his set. The Batman Begins star even claimed he enjoyed meeting the director’s outrageous demands. He said,
“Not at all. In fact, I relished the opportunity. If anything, I wanted to see more of that legendary temper: Bring on the crazy. I do think of Werner as a kindred spirit and I love so much of what he strives for. He can be the kindest of souls and then the most cantankerous man you’ve ever come across. There was never a dull moment. The thing with Werner is that he won’t be outdone by anyone else, especially not his lead actor. On set he would be diving into rock pools, crawling headfirst over rapids; all entirely unnecessary. But we enjoyed trying to outdo one another.”
The rough shoot was not just due to the director’s temper and the rough environment, but it also reported that he made the cast perform crazy stunts, some so crazy that Bale was forced to say no to a few of them. But it seems that Bale enjoyed it all as he is not new to giving it all for the role.
The crew was threatened with jail time by authorities
Christian Bale revealed that he not only enjoyed the location but also the run-ins with the authorities. Despite being threatened with being locked up in prison in a foreign country, he claimed that he enjoyed the toxicity. As a person not unknown to go to an extreme level for a role, Bale stated that he enjoyed everything about the shoot, including being covered in band-aids.
He explained in the interview,
“It depends who you talk to. Some people might have thought of it that way, but personally I loved it. If it was toxic, then I loved the toxicity, it didn’t affect me in any way. I was laughing my ass off most of the time. We had half the crew quit at one point. One day we had these heavies with machine guns turn up, dragging people off to court and threatening crew members with jail time … In the middle of all this chaos we were trying to make this wonderful movie. Walking barefoot through the jungle for hours on end, people cutting themselves, covered in band aids or cuts held together with Sellotape — I had a terrific time.”
So, a similar mindset of the actor and the director, made the rough and terrifying shoot of Rescue Dawn enjoyable for the Batman actor.
Source: GQ
