Batman actor 'hates publicity'
2005-06-13 11:00
Los Angeles - Leave it to fringe actor Christian Bale to play a superhero on the fringe.
Bale — who shot to child stardom in Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun then moved on to a grown-up career filled with menace and foreboding in such films as American Psycho and The Machinist — now re-creates the comic-book dark knight with Batman Begins.
He's no newcomer to big-budget movies — breakout roles do not get much bigger than playing the lead in a Spielberg flick at 13. And Bale's credits include the apocalyptic dragon tale Reign of Fire and a role as a contemptuous killer in the update of Shaft.
Stepping out of the spotlight
Yet Bale's general choices and his dislike of the spotlight have left him a cult figure who, at 31, finally is the central player in a behemoth Hollywood production.
"I never had a desire to be well known," said Bale.
Bale has focused on smaller, offbeat movies. Even his higher-profile films — Bale's tastes run somewhere south of mainstream.
"If I think a movie is going to make money, it's a sure fire way it's going to do nothing at the box office, and vice versa," Bale said.
Not a typical child star
Born in Wales, Bale spent his early childhood globe-hopping with his family, living in California and Portugal for a time. He began his career in commercials, TV and stage roles in England before Spielberg cast him in Empire of the Sun.
Though he worked regularly, following up with roles in Kenneth Branagh's Henry V and the lead in a TV version of Treasure Island, Bale was not the typical child star.
I hated the publicity, so I ran from it, said Bale. "To most people's eyes, I disappeared, but I pretty much worked once a year, even if it was on just a small role, because I did enjoy that," he said.
He made a seamless transition to adult roles, avoiding the fate of so many child actors who wind up unable to find a place in show business after their youthful stardom waned.
The new Batman
Batman Begins presents the early days of the DC Comics hero, offering a darker vision than the film series that began with Tim Burton's 1989 Batman.
The new Batman presents billionaire Bruce Wayne torn between justice and vigilante vengeance years after witnessing his parents' murders. Bruce travels the globe to delve into the criminal mind and eventually finds a mentor (Liam Neeson) who hones the young man's mind and body for the task of fighting corruption.
"What Christian has, he has this extreme level of self-discipline, of dedication and intensity, and you can see it in his eyes," director Christopher Nolan said. "It allows the audience to accept that this guy can transform himself into a superhero, which is a pretty extreme thing to ask an actor to convey."
Training for the role, Bale bulked up to 220 pounds. Only five months earlier, the 6-foot-2 Bale had weighed just 121 pounds after starving himself for The Machinist, in which he played a man physically and mentally traumatised after a year without sleep.
He's now back in his usual range of 185 pounds, with no apparent health consequences.
After Batman Begins, Bale filmed a supporting role in Colin Farrell's upcoming The New World, director Terrence Malick's drama of 17th century colonial America. Bale also shot the low-budget crime tale Harsh Times and provides the voice of the title character in the English-language version of the Japanese animated adventure Howl's Moving Castle.
Bale counts on the lustre of Batman Begins to give him clout on independent movies he wants to do.
- AP