Before being hailed for his shocking transformations and commendable versatility, Christian Bale started as a child actor with not many roles in his now accolade-brimming career. Thanks to one of Hollywood’s most influential filmmakers, the English actor soon found himself on the path to fame after being cast in Steven Spielberg’s Empire of the Sun.
But it was owing to Spielberg’s then-wife, Amy Irving, that Bale wound up on the radar of the West Side Story director.
Steven Spielberg’s Wife Helped Christian Bale Set Off His Career
From an Oscar-winning role in the 2010 Micky Ward biopic, The Fighter, to Christopher Nolan’s globally hailed The Dark Knight Trilogy, Christian Bale has starred in many a megahit in the span of his highly successful career. But before reaching such fabled heights of Hollywood, the Amsterdam star started as a mere unnoticed child actor with a few credits here and there.
After deciding to pursue a career in acting at the young age of 10, Bale earned a small part in the 1986 drama, Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna, which also happened to star Steven Spielberg’s ex-wife, Amy Irving.
It was by dint of her recommendation to Spielberg that the Lincoln director picked Bale out of around 4,000 other kids for the lead role in the coming-of-age war venture, Empire of the Sun. In a 1987 interview with now-retired journalist Gene Shalit, The Prestige star reminisced about meeting Spielberg for the first time as a 13-year-old kid full of innocent wonder and awe (via The Hollywood Reporter).
“He’s got this massive games room in his office, so I was just sitting there playing all the games when he walked in. …He just chatted to me on what the film’s about, he took me around his offices, let me touch E.T.’s head.”
Spielberg might have helped Bale kickstart his career in the film industry, but perhaps the 50-year-old actor has the former’s ex-wife to thank for just as much, if not more, it.
Christian Bale’s Breakout Role Took A Toll On Him
While the 1987 war/action certainly materialized Bale as a rising star, The Machinist actor found himself in a pickle in the film’s triumphant but overwhelming aftermath.
Bale revealed to The Talks that although he had a gala time working with such a venerated filmmaker like Spielberg, he was unable to cope with the inextricable pressures of stardom that arose in the wake of Empire of the Sun. In fact, his role in the breakout movie didn’t make him want to approach the prospect of acting with even a ten-foot pole.
“He [Speilberg] made me think, “I don’t ever want to do this again.” Not him personally, I had a wonderful time with him. But the experience of doing it at that age is not something I’d recommend it for anybody. You’re a teenager. You should be completely anonymous. I think it’s not really great for kids to go into such an adult profession at such a young age.”
The Academy Award winner admitted not having his “heart in it” for a good while after the Spielberg-helmed project. But Bale discovered his penchant for creative challenges and returned to the game, not unlike the proverbial phoenix rising from the ashes; and his critically acclaimed films like American Psycho and American Hustle stand testament to the same.
