While most constitute 2000’s American Psycho as the beginning of Christian Bale’s ascend in Hollywood, it wasn’t the first time Bale left fans awestruck through his acting prowess. By the time the new century arrived, Bale already had associated himself with more than a dozen movies, before eventually breaking into the big leagues with American Psycho.
But interestingly, long before heading into American Psycho, Bale wanted to part ways with acting after attaining huge success as a teen following his performance in Steven Spielberg’s underrated WWII epic.
Christian Bale Almost Quit Acting After Losing His Privacy
Although Steven Spielberg is no new to dealing with WWII stories, in the ’80s, it was still an untouched territory for the director, who was famous for helming huge blockbusters. But after The Color Purple, Spielberg opted to adapt J. G. Ballard’s semi-autobiographical-semi-fictionalized story of his experience during Japan’s invasion of China during the Second World War. Interestingly, instead of going to a prominent actor to star in Empire of the Sun, Spielberg took in an inexperienced Christian Bale to lead the movie.
Even though Bale rose to the challenge and succeeded with flying colors, garnering fame at such a young age had an adverse effect on his privacy as a teen, which almost pushed him to quit acting. Christian Bale told The Talks:
“I think it’s not really great for kids to go into such an adult profession at such a young age. It doesn’t matter how much you look at it as enjoyment, you’ll end up with responsibilities that you ideally shouldn’t have at that age. So that experience actually made me kind of think I did not want to be an actor. I didn’t really fully come back around until quite a few years later. I sort of dabbled, I did parts here and there but my heart wasn’t really in it for quite a long time after that.”
While Bale certainly “had a wonderful time with him [Steven Spielberg]”, considering how much the actor prioritizes his privacy, he was overwhelmed by the sudden exposure to fame.
Directing Isn’t Christian Bale’s Cup of Tea Following His Loner Persona
Bale’s tendency to be a loner is one of the biggest reasons why the acclaimed actor never got into directing. Even though the Batman Begins Star revealed that directors often told him to helm the camera, Christian Bale doesn’t find himself comfortable managing other actors, stressing he only “like being responsible for myself”. He continued,
“Directors tell me I should direct because the questions I am asking are the questions that they are asking rather than the questions that they expect to come from an actor. I do get that a lot. But there’s a great difference between being able to stand there and make suggestions when it ultimately doesn’t stop at you versus when it does. I think my issue with directing would probably be that I am kind of a loner.”
It’s reasonable to see why exposure to fame this young was overwhelming for Bale, which has also been an age-old problem that teen actors keep on facing, even to this day.
Empire of the Sun is available to rent on Apple TV.
