Playing a role as legendary as Batman appears to be a no-brainer, but the men who have portrayed him have different opinions. However, Christian Bale discusses why he was unconcerned about being typecast as Batman following Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy.
Christian Bale began his career as a child actor in many high-profile films in the late 1980s, including Steven Spielberg’s Empire of the Sun and Kenneth Branagh’s Shakespeare adaption Henry V. Although his role as Patrick Bateman in American Psycho in 1999 significantly boosted his career, he was still a risky choice to play the legendary caped crusader when Nolan hired him in Batman Begins, as his potential success remained still unknown.
The role of Batman had been taboo for other actors
Before Bale, Batman has gone through multiple big-screen adaptations with considerably more well-known movie stars as protagonists. Michael Keaton was at the peak of his career following roles in Mr. Mom and Beetlejuice when he was cast in Tim Burton’s version of Batman.
Michael Keaton, who portrayed the part in Batman and Batman Returns, likewise seemed to have battled with the role’s repercussions. In his 2014 leading return role in Birdman, he portrayed an actor who couldn’t shake his image as the person from the Birdman flicks. There’s a lot going on in the film, but the similarity between Birdman and Batman is difficult to overlook.
Ben Affleck, who took over the role of Gotham’s masked vigilante following Christian Bale, was the most recent actor to stand aside from the role, doing so before even getting his own solo film, and passing the cape and cowl over to Robert Pattinson. Affleck did not go into great detail about the decision but stated in an interview in January that while he was “not blaming anyone,” he ultimately did not feel satisfied in the part. “I didn’t like being there. I didn’t think it was interesting.”
When Christian Bale was offered the lead part in Batman Begins, everyone around him advised him it wasn’t worth it because of the risk of typecasting. As Bale stated in an interview: “Other people also said, ‘Hey, you know, if you play Batman, that’s it. You’re never gonna play anything else again. You will always be Batman.'” Christian Bale only had one thing to say to them, ‘Bring it on.’
People criticized Nolan’s more realistic Batman at first, but the Dark Knight trilogy received overwhelming critical praise and is widely recognized as many fans’ favorite take on the character.
Christian Bale became one of the A-list actors in Hollywood post-Batman trilogy
Christian Bale has never flinched away from a challenge, and he’s taken on several challenging parts throughout his career. There are the gossip aspects of Bale’s intensive method of acting, such as his drastic weight gain and reduction of parts. He weighed 120 pounds for his role as a haunted factory worker in 2004’s The Machinist, and over 225 pounds for roles in 2013’s American Hustle and 2018’s Vice.
Aside from that, he fills his parts with a strong emotional commitment, bringing the same gravitas to portraying a soldier detained in a Vietnamese POW camp in Rescue Dawn as he does to playing a villain in a highly stylized Marvel film like Thor: Love and Thunder. Between The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, Bale received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Fighter as the squirrely, crack-addicted former boxer Dicky Eklund.
The actor has a great sense of humor and doesn’t thrive just at drama, as seen by some of his more quirky work with director David O. Russell and his highly sarcastic appearance in American Psycho. Bale’s portrayal of Batman will be remembered fondly, both for his coldly hollowed-out take on Bruce Wayne and his rage-fueled vigilante alter-ego with an enviable voice. Bale has more than demonstrated that being the hero will be only one of many roles he is remembered for in the future.
Source: Films Guild
