Actors Nicolas Cage and Christian Bale worked together for the first time in 2001’s Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. This war film, directed by John Madden, was based on the 1994 novel Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernières. At the time of its production, sources claimed that Bale hated working in the movie because of the harsh weather conditions.
Acknowledging the rumors, Bale revealed that that was all just rumors and that the media exaggerated his comment. The actor stated that he only made a small comment and mainstream media assumed that he was “hugely disappointed” with the movie. Although Captain Corelli’s Mandolin wasn’t a huge success, it certainly played a key role in popularizing Nicolas Cage and Christian Bale.
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Was Christian Bale “hugely disappointed” while working in 2001’s Captain Corelli’s Mandolin?
In 2008, actor Christian Bale cleared the misconception that he was “hugely disappointed” while working in 2001’s Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. In an interview with BBC, Bale said,
“That was Internet chatter. Of course, it would be nice to swim with dolphins, but I knew that scene wasn’t in the screenplay when I first met John. You make one tiny comment that you’d like to swim with dolphins, and they made it into some big thing that I was hugely disappointed with the movie – which was complete nonsense.”
The comment Bale was referencing came after he complained about the harsh weather conditions while shooting the movie.
Filming the movie was an overwhelming experience for Christian Bale
In the interview, Bale also revealed that the weather conditions were not ideal when they were shooting Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, which made things quite overwhelming for him,
“It was excessive. There were days out there when it was apparently 125 degrees. We were in period grab, which is not heat-friendly. Heavy wool was what the soldiers wore. That was incredibly hot and heavy. They would also wear a number of sweaters because they’d go from that intense heat to the mountains, which was below freezing,” adding, “It did get overwhelming on occasions. There were a few times when all the motors went out because the heat had made the generators expire so there was no air conditioning. We were just sitting there, and all you could hear were the crickets. It did feel like death.”
There were complaints that the film’s plot deviated somewhat from the novel’s plot, leading to scrutiny from the critics. On a budget of $57 million, the film managed to bring in roughly $62 million.
