A dozen films in which Bale not only showed his ability to rapidly lose weight and gain weight, but also played his most memorable roles. Christian Bale began acting as a child, and today his filmography has more than 50 films. Due to the fact that Bale chose roles very carefully from the very beginning of his career, the films with his participation became high-profile blockbusters and collected hundreds of awards. cutinsight.com selected ten films that not only became a huge success, but also changed the life of the actor himself.
“Empire of the Sun” (1987)
Christian Bale’s mother was a circus performer, and both grandfathers were actors. This determined the fate of the future Hollywood star. Back in his early years, Bale appeared in commercials, had a couple of theater roles, and played in a few obscure films. And the first large-scale picture in the career of a young actor was Steven Spielberg’s drama “Empire of the Sun”, in which 13-year-old Bale was assigned the main role.
The events of the tape take place in 1941 in China. During the fighting, the boy loses his parents and is left completely alone. He has to get food on his own, defend himself from enemies and look for lodging for the night in the midst of devastation. Despite the endless deprivation and bullying, the guy is trying to maintain his dignity and spirit.
This role brought Bale a number of awards. However, fame has become a huge burden for the guy. The huge public attention to the young star depressed Christian so much that then he even thought about not acting anymore.
“Portrait of a Lady” (1996)
After the “Empire of the Sun” Christian began to actively offer the role of strong and ambitious boys. And one of the first adult roles for Bale was given by Jane Campion’s drama “Portrait of a Lady”.
The tape tells about a young and naive girl Isabelle Archer. She is manipulated by the cruel Gilbert Osmond. Christian Bale plays a guy in this picture who is trying to hit on the main character.
“American Psycho” (2000)
This was the first film specifically for which Bale did a great deal of work on his body. Before filming, the artist worked out intensively in the gym for 42 days and followed a strict diet in order to bring his figure to perfection.
In this picture, Bale reincarnates as a spectacular young man named Patrick Bateman, who tries to be the best in everything. He carefully monitors his health, dresses in the latest fashion and rotates in elite circles. However, periodically the passion for violence awakens in the main character. First on the list of his impulsive and senseless murders is a homeless man whom he accidentally met on the street.
“Equilibrium” (2002)
No matter how cruel the hero of Bale in “American Psycho” was, the cleric John Preston from “Equilibrium” became the bloodiest role of the actor. In this tape, he killed 118 people. In addition, the actor performed more stunts in this tape than in any of his other films.
The film tells about the fictional city-state of Libria, whose inhabitants are forbidden to experience any feelings. To lose emotions, people take a special drug. In addition, the leadership of the city creates a division of special employees who search for and destroy the repositories of the cultural heritage of mankind. John Preston is one of the best employees in this division. But one day the system starts to work against him.
“The Machinist” (2004)
For the role in this drama, the actor lost 28 kg. His example went down in cinema history as one of the most radical methods of preparing for filming a film.
Bale had to lose so much weight to play the guy Trevor Reznik, who hasn’t slept or eat for almost a year. Due to such exhaustion, the main character of the tape began to balance on the verge of dream and reality. Therefore, Trevor stopped distinguishing frightening hallucinations from everyday life.
“Batman Begins” (2005)
Just six weeks after filming The Machinist, the skinny Bale planned to audition for the role of Batman. To do this, the artist needed to build muscle mass at an accelerated pace. “After The Machinist, I was assured that I could not eat much. Nothing like that! My stomach was just a bottomless well!” – the artist recalled.
As a result, the actor received the biggest role of the Man-Bat in his career. In addition, he made a small revolution in popular cinema, playing the most humane and realistic superhero at that time.
After the resounding success of the blockbuster “Batman Begins”, two more parts of this franchise came out. In addition, Bale also played in another iconic film by Christopher Nolan, The Prestige.
Rescue Dawn (2006)
From the very beginning of his acting career, Bale tried to act only with outstanding directors. In addition to the aforementioned films of Spielberg, Nolan and Campion, the actor also appeared in the films of Ridley Scott (“Exodus: Gods and Kings”), Kenneth Branagh (“Henry V”), Terrence Malick (“Knight of Cups”), Tod Haynes (“I’m Not There “), Zhang Yimou (“Flowers of War”) and other masters. Along with these great names was Werner Herzog, with whom Bale starred in film “Saving Dawn”.
The plot of the film is based on the US Navy pilot Dieter Dengler, who was taken prisoner during the Vietnam War. He tries to escape, but surviving in freedom is even more difficult, because you should expect no less danger from the jungle than from the enemy.
“Fighter” (2010)
Bale has always aspired to play leading roles in films. And in the most striking tapes with his participation, he got the place of the protagonist. However, he won the most prestigious awards in his entire career thanks to his supporting role, which he played in the boxing drama The Fighter. For this tape, the artist was awarded the Golden Globe and Oscar.
The picture is dedicated to the young boxer Mickey Ward, who trains under the guidance of his brother Dicky Eklund. The latter was a promising athlete, but he had to end his career due to drugs. Once in the fate of Mickey began a losing streak. He lost the decisive battle, and his brother was sent to prison. After that, the main character decided to train on his own.
“American Hustle” (2013)
If for the film “The Machinist” Bale set a personal record for losing weight, then “American Hustle” made the actor gain 20 extra pounds. “I ate mountains of donuts, a bunch of cheeseburgers, and in general everything I could reach,” the actor recalled. As a result, even a separate close-up was dedicated to Bale’s beer belly in this tape.
This adventurous picture is dedicated to a group of scammers who illegally traded in works of art. As it turned out during the investigation, several officials were involved in this criminal scheme.
“The Big Short” (2015)
In this decade, Bale often transferred the fate of real people to the screens. The actor has established himself as an excellent portrait painter thanks to films such as The Fighter and American Hustle.
And in Adam McKay’s The Big Short, the actor played the famous financier Michael Burry, who was one of the first to predict the 2008 global financial crisis. The tape showed in detail the reasons why the big banks and the stock market collapsed. Back in 2005, a few talented analysts drew attention to bad loans that were undermining the economy from the inside. To insure against the impending crisis, these financiers developed an investment scheme that at that time seemed absurd.
And in Adam McKay’s film Power, Bale played another real-life person, the 46th Vice President of the United States, Dick Cheney. For this role, the actor also recovered greatly. For this picture, the artist received the Golden Globe.