The director who called Christian Bale a comedy genius: “Physical comedy is such a skill”
While Christian Bale has appeared in many recognisable roles, from Batman in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy to the villainous Gorr the God Butcher in Thor: Love and Thunder, he will perhaps always be best known as Patrick Bateman. As the deranged protagonist of American Psycho, the character remains the embodiment of phony yuppie culture, with Bale playing him with a balance of horror and humour.
The role came after Bale had starred in a variety of popular movies, like Empire of the Sun, Newsies, Little Women, and Velvet Goldmine. Yet, the British actor was still relatively unknown in Hollywood, and the producers weren’t keen on hiring him for the leading role as the New York businessman Patrick Bateman.
Director Mary Harron was deeply impressed with his audition, however, believing that he truly understood the humour and satire that the role required. When the studio suggested actors like Leonardo DiCaprio, Harron knew that the film could only work with Bale in the lead, and even though she was removed from the project, she eventually managed to get back on board, casting Bale.
He proved to be the perfect casting choice, and Bale even went a little bit method while getting into character, sometimes remaining in his Bateman persona when the cameras stopped rolling. The actor was initially worried that people would misunderstand the character, something which occurred to him when he visited some Wall Street offices ahead of filming and discovered that various men who worked there were unironically obsessed with Bateman after reading Bret Easton Ellis’ novel.
The actor told GQ, “So it was always worrying, even back then. But you know, clearly, it’s a satire on capitalism in the ‘80s and, as such, is so bloody far-fetched and ridiculous that, to me, I can’t help but think it’s hilarious.”
Bale and Harron seemingly had the same understanding of Bateman, which allowed their partnership to work so well. When Bale came to set with ideas on how to make his performance as hilarious as possible while also maintaining Bateman’s craziness and coldness, Harron knew she had cast the right actor in the role.
“There is a lot of crazy comedy even within the novel of American Psycho. I was lucky that Christian really, really seized onto that. He was the one who said to me the day before we shot the Paul Allen murder, ‘I think I want to moonwalk.’ When he did it, I fell off my chair—it was so funny,” Harron told Letterboxd.
She continued, “I didn’t say, ‘You’re going to do very extreme physical comedy, but it’s also going to be scary.’ We didn’t plan it out that way; it was just an intuitive thing, which is one of the best things when you’re filming.” The director believes that “People can do sensitive, they can do scary, they can do poetic, but physical comedy is such a skill.”
American Psycho remains a beloved comedy horror that has endured for 25 years, inspiring countless Halloween costumes, memes, theories, and fandom. Was everything in Bateman’s head? What was the true reason for his obsession with killing? It’s hard to imagine anyone else but Bale playing Bateman, which he mastered with such ease despite the complexity of the role.
