Christian Bale On Verbally Abusing A Cinematographer: ‘I Acted Like A Punk’, And 9 Other Facts

Christian Bale is perhaps most well-known for his role of Bruce Wayne/Batman in The Dark Knight and for his portrayal of Patrick Bateman in American Psycho, but there is so much more to this talented actor than meets the eye. He is said to have a fiery personality and he is versatile enough to be more than just a blockbuster star. There are a lot of surprising and fun facts about Christian Bale’s career and life that will blow fans away.

1. According to Boomsbeat, Christian Bale is willing to go to great lengths to portray his characters authentically. Of all the actors who have lost weight for parts, he is perhaps the most extreme. In 2004, Bale lost 63 pounds for his role in The Machinist by eating salads and apples and a can of tuna every day. He also took up smoking to help suppress his appetite.

@WorldClassFacts: ‘For the movie The Machinist, Christian Bale lost 63 pounds b… pic.twitter.com/ZHjhlg04Ss, see more https://t.co/W8hh7YYjpx

— Christian Bale News (@TT_ChrisBale) January 3, 2016

2. For his role in The Dark Knight, Christian Bale had to bulk up again after The Machinist. He had six months to gain weight and went too far the other way, having to lose 20 pounds in the end to get the muscular look he needed for the role.

“For the role in The Machinist, Christian Bale lost an incredible 63 pounds.” https://t.co/pDTpFZgm2o #ChristianBale pic.twitter.com/3ceulxWO9g

— Health & Fitness (@dailyfithit) October 29, 2015

3. Christian Bale performed all of his own stunts in The Dark Knight.

4. There is a scene in The Dark Knight where Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman’s characters greet Christian Bale when he is in bed, and while preparing for the scene, Bale actually fell asleep. Caine had to poke him to wake him up.

“Look at that! He’s blo*dy fallen asleep.”

5. When Christian Bale was fighting Liam Neeson on the frozen lake, Bale could hear the ice cracking beneath them. The lake thawed by the following day.

6. Christian Bale auditioned for the role of Jack in Titanic and he almost won it.

7. When he was filming Terminator Salvation, he verbally abused a cinematographer for interrupting him during a very intense scene, which was recorded and eventually spread across the internet. Bruce Franklin, the assistant director commented on the incident.

“If you are working in a very intense scene and someone takes you out of your groove… It was the most emotional scene in the movie… and for him to get stopped in the middle of it. He is very intensely involved in his character. He didn’t walk around like that all day long. It was just a moment and it passed.”

Bale later told MTV that he took the incident way too far.

“I was out of order beyond belief. I acted like a punk. There is nobody who heard the tape who is hit harder than me. I make no excuses for it. It is inexcusable.”

8. Moviefone reports that whenever Christian Bale is in a part that requires an American accent, he will do all of his press interviews related to the movie with an American accent to avoid confusing the audience.

9. Christian Bale has admitted he enjoys roles in movies where he can get dirty.

“I kind of like movies where I just get to just be dirty. Westerns are meant to be dirty, they shouldn’t be all nice and clean. And I like getting my hands dirty.”

10. Christian Bale was originally cast to portray George W. Bush in the biopic W. He spent months researching the former president and learning all his mannerism and ultimately had to give up the part because he had issues with the prosthetics he had to wear.

[Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]