Christian Bale is one of the most versatile actors in the Hollywood industry. It’s undeniable that he always pours his heart and soul into the roles played onscreen. Every character that he played to date, right from Michael Burry to his new MCU villain character Gorr The God Butcher, he nailed every iconic role.
Even after giving their best onscreen, sometimes the actor doesn’t get paid well for it. That’s what happened with Christian Bale once for one of his most well-known roles in a cult classic film.
Shocking Facts About Christian Bale’s American Psycho Role
When the audience sees a lead actor onscreen, a thought always strikes their mind that the actor will get a great payday for this, but the reality is often saddening. Christian Bale was recently invited for a GQ interview to promote his upcoming movie Amsterdam, where he revealed being underpaid for his famous role in a past movie.
As everyone knows, Christian Bale played the iconic character of Patrick Bateman, a serial psychopath, in American Psycho. The film was directed by Mary Harron and scored a worldwide box office record of $34M+.
What’s The Story Of A Fine Actor Like Christian Bale Getting Underpaid?
Christian Bale is popularly known for his different roles in famous films like The Fighter, American Hustle, Ford V Ferrari, Empire of the Sun, and others. Other than the featured films, he has also been a part of rival franchises like Marvel Studios and DC. Even though he got a good paycheck from these franchises, he was paid the bare minimum for his role in American Psycho. The actor’s pay was way lesser than the makeup artists even.
In the interview, The Dark Knight actor mentioned that he was paid a very minimum amount. He spoke about how at that time they were repossessing the house he was staying at and he needed money. He recalled the time when he was sitting in the makeup room and the makeup artist laughed at him for being underpaid.
“They had paid me the absolute minimum they were legally allowed to pay me. And I had a house that I was sharing with my dad and my sister and that was getting repossessed. So the first thing was: ‘Holy crap. I’ve got to get a bit of money,’ because I’ve got American Psycho done, but I remember one time sitting in the make-up trailer and the make-up artists were laughing at me because I was getting paid less than any of them.”
The Oscar-Winning Actor’s Rise To Fame
The Batman actor’s career has been a rollercoaster ride. He never failed to bring out the best onscreen and continues doing so even after achieving success in his Hollywood career. Bale earned his first acting job in the year 1983 for a cereal commercial. Further, he also opted for some mini-series roles like Anastasia: The Mystery Of Anna. There was also a stage in Bale’s life when he wanted to leave acting as he didn’t get enough attention from the industry for his roles.
He didn’t give up though, and soon in a few years, he did some of the best roles in the industry. He was hired by Warner Bros for Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, through which he attained immense success.
Source: Showbiz Cheatsheet
