Why Christian Bale hates being “a star”
Christian Bale’s breakthrough into Hollywood came when he was just 13. During the filming of the made-for-television film Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna, in which he had a small part, Bale met Amy Iriving, who was married to Steven Speilberg at the time. She subsequently recommended the young actor to the director, and Bale was cast as the lead in Empire of the Sun.
His role in the 1987 war film proved Bale more than capable of performing in leading roles, which he has continued to do in the following decades. After playing the horrific serial killer Patrick Bateman in 2000’s American Psycho, Bale’s role in 2004’s The Machinist also garnered attention, which saw the actor lose 62 pounds (28kg) to convey his sleep-deprived paranoid character. He described this move as “an asshole seeing if he could have the discipline to mentally control himself for an amount of time.”
Other notable films from Bale’s back catalogue include Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, in which he played Batman, Vice (Bale gained 40 pounds for the role), The Prestige, The Big Short and Ford v Ferrari. It is indisputable that Bale is a Hollywood star who dedicates himself to his roles with admirable intensity, as demonstrated in his frequent willingness to transform his appearance completely. Bale is a versatile actor; that’s not up for debate. It is hard to believe that in just six years, Bale went from playing the kind-hearted love interest Laurie in Little Women to the terrifyingly cold killer in American Psycho, which is a testament to his incredible acting talents.
However, Bale has frequently discussed his complicated relationship with acting, a profession he once referred to as “vanity-fuelled” and “disgusting.” In 2013 he shared, “I can’t stand the people, and I hate them all. And I hate the films, and I don’t want to see a film again in my life. And then I’ll find something and I’ll go, ‘Yeah, forget everything I just said. I want to go back in. I want to go back into it.’ But it’s always like that for me. It’s a very black-and-white thing.”
Similarly, in 2010, Bale was interviewed by Esquire, where he discussed his thoughts on being a “star.” He shared, “I want to be able to just act and never do any interview, but I don’t have the balls to stand up to the studio and say, ‘I’m never doing another interview in my life!'”
Bale also revealed, “it’s embarrassing to be a star. Most people look at you like, ‘That’s not a fucking job, is it?'” Discussing his weight loss in The Machinist, he continued his rant on the film industry, saying, “I have a very sissy job, where I go to work and get my hair done, and people do my makeup, and I go and say lines and people spoil me rotten.”
The actor also referred to his career as “not something to be quite as proud of as many people would have you believe.” He continued, “Art is something to be proud of. Art is no compromise. As an actor, you’re giving it up, you’re at the mercy of so many other people.”
Bale stated that he would prefer to be invisible, and despite his intense dedication to his roles, he does not channel himself or past experiences into them. “‘A fucking actor? Who says he wants to be invisible? Oh yeah, good choice, mate.’ But the point is, you do get to become invisible as an actor.”
Never one to reveal much about his personal life, Bale would rather remain an elusive figure that morphs into different acting roles without his star status interfering with the audience’s perception of him. He once described anonymity as “what’s giving you the ability to play those characters.”
