Although Patrick Bateman wasn’t real, Christian Bale made sure he comes to life both on and off camera while working on American Psycho. He has delivered some of the most critically acclaimed roles in Hollywood. From The Dark Knight trilogy to The Fighter, the world has always been in awe of the actor’s performance. But besides being a successful actor, he is also often in the news and criticized for his obscure acting methods and preparation for a character. Although all of it has paid off, as the actor has won several accolades including an Academy Award, reportedly it gets a little intimidating to work for the people around him because of his antics.
Thus to save himself and the others from trouble, the actor has time and again tried to quit for good. But it seems like nothing can keep him away from his craft which is both his passion and profession.
Christian Bale wants to quit Hollywood for good
Although the actor Christian Bale loves his job dearly, he has tried to change his career a million times. Despite not doing many interviews, the actor opened up to the magazine GQ regarding his desire to end the torture once and for all. He said,
“I’ve always been bent on “When’s this gonna end? This has to end.” I like doing things that have nothing to do with film. And I find myself very happily not playing dress-up, not pretending to be somebody else for long lengths of time.”
Bale loves to play characters regardless of the camera and expresses that he does not mind portraying one. Since many have a problem with his intimidating attitude on set in between takes, the actor keeps trying to put everyone out of their misery by trying to end his profession. But there is something, that he hasn’t quite figured out yet that resists him from quitting. The oomph factor, the serotonin kick, the dopamine rush, whatever it is, fans are happy as long as he works his magic in front of the lens, and so is he. He continued saying,
“I like the insanity of the job itself. I guess it’s the idea of what people think an actor is that’s embarrassing.—the acting itself, I enjoy how ridiculous it is. I love something that you can just go too far with. People are f**king fascinating.”
He may not enjoy being in front of the camera, but he derives his happiness from acting. Although he has hinted at his departure from the industry time and again, he has also reassured his admirers that he will never leave acting.
Christian Bale’s erratic behavior on sets
It is no secret that the actor, Christian Bale likes to take things too far while preparing for a character. Similarly, reports of his intense behavior during the filming of Terminator Salvation in 2009 became widely known, showcasing his explosive outbursts and conflicts with crew members. While Bale later apologized for his actions, the incidents shed light on the challenges of working with an actor who is intensely committed to inhabiting his character off-camera.
Not only that, according to the reports those who starred in American Psycho alongside him have also confessed to being unsure of how to interact with him while on set as he decided to stay in character between takes. And thus, has been deemed difficult to work with on several occasions. Speaking to GQ, he revealed,
“I’m totally grateful and surprised that I get to keep working, right? And you have to maintain that gratitude. But within that gratitude, that mustn’t mean you let standards slip, right?–But you get passionate characters in the world of filmmaking, right? Because sometimes caring can come across as a certain way for people who might, uh, get a bit overexcited at times.”
Now bringing such intense characters like serial killers to life accurately requires severe hard work both mentally and physically, but with Bale, many confessed the line between reel and real tends to get blurry over time. And in spite of trying to leave everything behind, the actor just cannot convince his heart that he is indeed done with “playing pretend”.
Source: GQ
