Christian Bale's body transformations

[PorkChop]

http://www.peoplestylewatch.com/people/ ... 17,00.html

You have to admire his dedication. That's crazy.

[Hanley!]

This shit can't be healthy, and at this point I'm really not too impressed. I watched American Hustle and there was no need for him to be fat. It was irrelevant to the character. Now if the look was that important (the people in the film were based on real figures), then they could have hired a different actor.

I just find it crazy that such a big actor is still relying on this kind of gimmick after this many years.

[DBSoT]

Why would any human being do this for a movie role. "The Machinist" image is just flat out disturbing.

[Kein]

I don't really know why you label this as a gimmick Hanley!. The rapid weight gain and loss isn't what has made Christian Bale a famous actor. He has been around for a long time and I personally enjoy his acting. I think the weight gain for American Hustle actually was a bit important. It shows his character is really smart, really convincing, and is really a type of person that can word his way through things. You always expect a good looking guy to be smooth and suave, who can get the girl, and talk his way through shit, and has the money. Christian Bales character in the movie definitely struggles, but smooth talking and convincing others is the strongest point of that person. He knew something was fishy, and the girl wanted to go for it, which got her caught. He was able to get peoples trust when his partner fucked up and made a fishy move. His weight makes him seem like he isn't what he is, but he is the best at it. When they are in they go to these parties and all the guys are thin, in suites, and made men. Then you have him, this overweight guy who talked his way into everything.

Given the time periods, I am actually impressed with how fast he gained muscle mass between the Machinist and The Dark Knight, that kind of transformation is amazing, and it explains why he was a bit chubby during the first film. I heard he kinda got made fun of and was called the Fatman cause he was a bit on the larger side haha.

But really the only role I feel he was seriously unhealthy and risking himself was Machinist. Especially since he deprived himself of food and nutrients to get there. In the Fighter it says he shed pounds by a lot of cardio, but his diet isn't really mentioned, so he could actually have been in fairly healthy shape there. It was also the next year after Terminator so he had time for the weight loss. How skinny he is in the fighter doesn't seem much more unhealthy than how overweight he is in American Hustle.

I can only imagine he does this because he is extremely passionate about acting, and wants to truly get into character and be his role. If you are passionate about something you go all in, you don't half ass it, and regardless if it is unhealthy I admire the dedication and work he put into it. If he wants to take a role, and fit the bill, and look back at his acting in a movie and be proud of what he did in there that's all on him. There are plenty of things people are passionate about that are risky or unhealthy to their bodies. This is no exception.

[Kirbi]

Meh, Christian Bale's boring. He's not a bad actor, I guess, but I haven't found a performance of his compelling in years.

I definitely think his American Hustle change was needless as well; they uglied him up enough through other means to act as a foil to the character's charm. Maybe he should've spent some of his energy on charming the audience as well, instead of hinging his performance on his looks. For me, that performance was an abject failure, because I never gave a crap what happened to his character (whatever his name was).

[Everlong]

I'm in total agreement with @Kein, I think the overweight issue added a lot to the character in American Hustle. It allowed him to more seamlessly blend into his character as a con man, and made a real testament to his silver tongue. Same with his terrible hair. He was supposed to look like a slob, which made people suspect him less as a fraudster.

I think Bale is one of the best working actors today. He disappears into his roles, not just physically but emotionally. His Oscar-winning work in The Fighter was amazing, I'd recommend watching that movie just for him alone. He was brilliant as Bruce Wayne, and his performance in The Prestige was fantastic as well. And then there's American Psycho, which had to have been a mentally exhausting role as well.

The Hanleys' distaste of him seems to center on American Hustle, which I agree was a pretty overrated movie but the guy's put out performance after performance that's been great. I see the body transformations not as a gimmick, but as his willingness to completely invest in whatever character he's playing. The physical transformations are merely a tangible manifestation of what he does mentally to get himself into a role.

Also, to play devil's advocate, @Hanley!, I don't think I've ever heard you call Gary Oldman's physical transformations for his roles a gimmick

[Romo]

He must have crazy stretch marks from losing and gaining all this weight all the time.

[Kirbi]

The Hanleys'

No.

I also didn't think his performance in the Batman movies was great.

Don't get me wrong, I think he's generally good, but that's it. Another movie of his I didn't particularly like though was Public Enemies, which I also thought was just a bad movie - like American Hustle.

On the side of praise, there's American Psycho - he was really great in that; but that was almost 15 years ago.

He seems to have developed into a quieter actor since then - less scenery-chewing, more introspection. This is fine, but it doesn't play as well when there's not much else of interest going on onscreen.

[Kyle]

The only role that looks like it was seriously unhealthy was his one in The Machinist.

[AkydefGoldberg]

TBH, I've not seen a wide range of Bale's work but I do think there is a sincerity on his part to transform himself physically for the role as part of his immersion into the character. He does seem to be, what one might call, a method actor.

I don't think it's a gimmick at all, as Tim has noted, just a passion for portraying a character in very realistic forms. TBH, I'm shocked he could gain that much weight for that character in American Hustle - must have involved alot of eating - which for me would be my ideal preparation for a character.

[Everlong]

He does seem to be, what one might call, a method actor.

Yeah, he's really one of the last true method actors, one of the others (most famously) being Daniel Day-Lewis.

[Hanley!]

I don't really know why you label this as a gimmick Hanley!. The rapid weight gain and loss isn't what has made Christian Bale a famous actor.

Mostly I label it as a gimmick because I find it really gimmicky. It seems like he just wants to prove that he can do this stuff, which isn't really something worth bragging about to me. He's willingly fucking with his own body.

I agree that's not what made him famous too. The guy has real acting chops. So I don't see why he feels the need to do this. He could have just as good a career without it. I dunno, maybe he's just angling for more awards, as the academy tends to have a bias towards people who go through huge physical transformations for their roles.

And I find it pretty distracting in some films. I guess that's my biggest problem with it as a viewer. He's trying to make himself into something else, but it just doesn't work for me. Watching American Hustle, I couldn't see him as this entirely new person. My brain just kept asking me "Why is Christian Bale so fat?" It actually made me less immersed in the film.

Also, to play devil's advocate, @Hanley!, I don't think I've ever heard you call Gary Oldman's physical transformations for his roles a gimmick

Yeah, it's not really the same thing though. There's no huge amount of effort going into him losing or gaining fat or muscle. He's not putting his body through the ringer. He accomplishes his transformations through styling and largely through acting. That's not gimmicky to me, that's the job.

Without that much effort, Gary Oldman can completely transform himself into someone else. Whereas Bale puts in much more effort to change his physical appearance and doesn't manage to achieve the same level of transformation. When I watch an Oldman film, I don't see the actor I see the character. With Bale I sometimes just see an actor that's trying too hard. That's the difference.

Now I'd be lying if I said I wasn't captivated by some of Bale's performances. And the transformations have worked for me at times in the past. But sometimes it's too much. Maybe American Hustle is pushing my opinions more strongly in one direction because that felt really unnecessary to me, and it was distracting, and that film was fucking stupid anyway. And Bale wasn't particularly good in it either, I was surprised of the fuss people made of him.

If he wants to take a role, and fit the bill, and look back at his acting in a movie and be proud of what he did in there that's all on him.

One last thing: I doubt the handsome, white, male Hollywood A-Lister is going to have any trouble finding suitable roles. Bale could land basically any film he wants. If there are specific roles that he can't land without putting on a load of weight, maybe just let a heavier guy take the role instead. Someone who couldn't be used as the protagonist of 95% of the movies out there.

[Kein]

I don't think Bale would really have trouble finding a role either, I figured if he can hand pick his own roles, he is actually going to be more passionate and trying to get into character. He isn't like a starting actor who will take on anything to pay the bills and be a try hard to get his foot in the door. I don't think he was thinking just about the weight when it came to American Hustle, I am pretty sure he was more intrigued by the character as a whole and wanted to be that in the film. It'd be silly to assume he wanted to be a fat man just so he could be a fat man. A lot of these characters he plays as in the films listed in the link, are pretty in depth. He plays a psycho, an insomniac, batman (who has a whole slew of mental problems), a crack addict, and a conman. I am not the hugest fan of Bale (but I am a fan), I don't keep track of all his movies, so maybe he has more boring roles as well, but if a body transformation is part of his mental path to getting into character so be it.

I can understand your point about Christian Bale acting in a movie, but still being identified as Bale who looks like hes trying to be someone. I feel like DiCaprio and Tom cruise have the same problem. These guys also have pretty iconic spots in many films where they don't have to get crazy in hairstyle, and makeup though. Heck, you can argue for more actors that way than not.