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Biography:
The 10th Anniversary issue of "Entertainment Weekly" crowned Christian
Bale as one of the "Top 8 Most Powerful Cult Figures" of the past
decade, citing his incredible and legendary cult status on the
Internet. EW also calls Bale one of the "Most Creative ...(read more)
The 10th Anniversary issue of "Entertainment Weekly" crowned Christian
Bale as one of the "Top 8 Most Powerful Cult Figures" of the past
decade, citing his incredible and legendary cult status on the
Internet. EW also calls Bale one of the "Most Creative People in
Entertainment" after his brilliant turn as the psychopathic yuppie
serial killer in American Psycho (2000) . And "Premiere" lauded him as one of the
"Hottest Leading Men Under 30". Christian Bale has garnered a huge
international audience ever since he wowed critics with his devastating
performance in 'Steven Spielberg (I)'s WWII epic Empire of the Sun (1987) .
Bale made his professional debut opposite British comedian 'Rowan Atkinson' on
the London West End stage. He auditioned with 4000 other kids for the
coveted role of James Graham in Spielberg's Empire of the Sun (1987) . Bale received a
special citation for Best Performance by a Juvenile Actor from the
National Board of Review -- an award specially created for his
performance in "Empire". In the following decade, Welsh-born Bale has
appeared in Shakespeare, dramas and comedies demonstrating a
versatility, depth and range that has made him one of the best reviewed
actors today and one of the most popular actors on the Internet. Bale
is the youngest in a family of 3 older sisters (Erin, Sharon, and
'Louise Bale' ).
Harrison Cheung < hcbfc@christianbale.org>
Quotes:
* "An actor should never be larger than the film he's in." (Spin, March
96)
* On dealing with the resulting media attention of Empire of the Sun (1987) at age 13: "It
was horrific. I was almost crying in interviews and running away during
press con ...(read more)
* "An actor should never be larger than the film he's in." (Spin, March
96)
* On dealing with the resulting media attention of Empire of the Sun (1987) at age 13: "It
was horrific. I was almost crying in interviews and running away during
press conferences, pretending I was going to the bathroom and just
disappearing."
* On the sudden fame that resulted afterEmpire of the Sun (1987) : "I enjoyed making the
film, but I was shocked when I received all the attention when I got
home to Bournemouth. Girls were all over me, boys wanted to fight me,
and I was being asked to open local fetes when all I wanted to do was
ride my BMX bike in the woods. I told my parents I wasn't interested in
doing anything again because the attention ruined it."
* "I don't want to know about the lives of other actors and I don't want
people to know too much about me. If we don't know about the private
lives of other actors, that leaves us as clean slates when it comes to
playing characters. That's the point, they can create these other
characters and I can believe them. I think if you're a good enough
actor, that's the way to longevity in the film business. Keep everybody
guessing."
* "I started my career without fans."
* On his 63 pound weight loss for the movie "The Machinist" (Maquinista,
El (2004) ): "I had a stupid kind of feeling of invincibility,
like, 'I can do it, I can manage it.' I really did feel like I hit this
point of enlightenment".
* "I always like that. Whenever there's a project where everyone's going,
'Oooooh, it's a bit dodgy,' I always like it. If you actually look at
it, there tends not to be anything risky at all. Why did I start acting
in the first place? I didn't do it to be mediocre or to please
everybody all the time."
* "I'd love to remain a secret and still work, but I also want people to
see the movies I'm in and get a higher profile because of that. I like
to think that as long as you continue choosing diverse roles, you can
avoid becoming predictable."
* "It's the actors who are prepared to make fools of themselves who are
usually the ones who come to mean something to the audience."
* On his transformation into Patrick Bateman for American Psycho (2000) : "The character
is so vain and obsessed with his looks. While the psychology of the
character was something that I could perform, you can't fake the
physicality. Being English, I tend to enjoy going down to the pub far
more than going to the gym, so it was very unnatural for me. I just had
to convince myself that I loved it, which was the most difficult thing
about playing this part. Working out is incredibly boring. I swear its
true that the bigger your muscles get, the fewer brain cells you have.
I found I had to stop thinking when I was in the gym because if I
thought about it, I'd realize how ridiculous it was that I was pumping
iron when I could've been out having a drink and a cigarette and
enjoying some lunch. I did three hours a day for six weeks with a
personal trainer and some time before that. I ate an awful lot during
training and then almost nothing during filming."
* "The only thing that I'm obsessed with is sleeping and, actually, it is
more than an obsession, it is a pleasure. I love sleeping so much that
I could do it 12 hours a day if I didn't have to turn on the alarm
clock...and still, sometimes..."
* "Our Batman is centered on the early days. It's an explanation. It's
certainly not Batman No. 5. It's a reinvention. We want you to forget
there has ever been a Batman before this one."
* On Batman Begins (2005) : "I've never felt like the Batman character in the films was
given as much time as any of the villains. The villains were always the
most interesting characters, too. Batman has always been this very
bizarre, almost blind character running through the middle of the
story. Our film is different."
* On Batman Begins (2005) , which is in no way a low-budget film: "I contacted them. I
heard they were doing some low-budget Batman not aimed at kids and I
was tantalized. I had appreciated the Batman movies, but I wasn't
really a fan and I didn't know the TV series. But I read some of the
graphic novels, and they were very dark and very interesting."
* "I spent about three weeks in Chicago last July doing night shoots.
It's a great city, but the humidity was tough under the Batsuit. Uh, it
got a little bad. It's hot enough in the Batsuit, let alone in the
Chicago heat."
* "I needed money because I had just bought a house, but I just kept
saying, `I really can't do another movie that I know is not going to
turn out the way I want it to, and that I have to make a lot of
concessions in my head for.'"
* "For me, there's a bigger risk trying Batman. Ultimately, the big point
was that Chris Nolan [Memento], who you would not expect to be doing
that kind of movie, was going to direct it, which is exactly what I was
looking for, because you want to do something totally different from
the other Batman movies. I always thought there could be a really good
movie made about Batman and when I heard that Chris was doing it I
thought, `Well, he's not a director that you would expect, therefore
you're going to get the unexpected from him.' I think there's a great
potential for going very dark with it, it's a fascinating character,
very complex psychologically, which I've never seen done. You know, you
have the two extremes, which are both very good. You can either go the
very camp Adam West TV series thing, which was great in its own way, or
you can go more the way of the graphic Dark Knight novels which delve
somewhat deeper."
* "I had spent weeks staring at the wall in my house out of depression
because of things that had gone wrong and the choices I had made. When
I read The Machinist, I just went, `Wow! This is perfect.' I was having
dreams about the character and I couldn't stop thinking about it. I
felt like this one was going to save my arse, and pull me out of the
depressed state I had got into."
* "I did other things, but my heart was never in it. A lot of actors say
that theater's the thing for them. And that's great, and I'm not one to
speak with any authority about it because of not having done it
properly. For me, movies are what I love."
* "At first, I was somewhat hesitant to do the role. I mean, after all,
Batman is an icon. But I remember, as clear as day, being at the
grocery store the day the movie opened, and this little boy saw me. He
couldn't have been more than five years old. He just walked right up to
me and hugged me. He hugged me, and I was so moved by it that I hugged
him back. Then he looked up at me and said "You're my hero." And in
that moment, I knew that not only as an actor that I had done my job,
but that I had made the right decision to play Batman. And I've never
looked back on my the decision to play Batman since."- On his decision
to play Batman
* [on playing Batman] "You couldn't pull it off unless you became a beast
inside that suit."
* "I only sound intelligent when there's a good script writer
around."
* "I'm English. Our dentistry is not world famous. But I made sure I got
moldings of my old teeth beforehand because I miss them."
* "I don't think I'm like any of the characters I've played- they're all
really far from who I am."
* "You can't help but find that violence is endlessly fascinating-and I
mean true violence, not action-movie violence, just because it is used
as the answer to so many problems. We're all taught as kids not to be
violent, but you can't help but also see that violence is what works
very often. Bullies thrive."
* "I think there's a kind of pretentiousness to the idea that serious
work is only found in low-budget independent movies-I can't stand that
snobbery."
* "I like being kept in the dark myself. You know, like mushrooms: Keep
'em in the dark and feed 'em shit. See, I think that's an enjoyable
vegetable to be."
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