Every awards season, there’s that late-comer that ends up getting a lot of hype and throws all the other contenders for a loop. This year, it appears that film is Adam McKay’s “Vice.” And in a new interview, we find out why the filmmaker chose Dick Cheney for his latest film and what Christian Bale used to get the proper neck for the role.
“Vice,” as the title suggests, tells the story of real-life former Vice President of the United States, Dick Cheney. The film stars Christian Bale as the ex-VP, as well as stars like Steve Carell, Sam Rockwell, and Amy Adams. “Vice” just screened for critics and is already getting massive Best Picture Oscar buzz, which makes sense considering McKay’s last film, “The Big Short,” proved that the filmmaker is quite the force behind the camera, even without Will Ferrell.
READ MORE: Christian Bale Turns ‘Vice’ Into The Oscar Player We Always Thought It Would Be
Speaking to THR, McKay explained why he wanted to tell the story about Cheney, and why, even now, he believes that the former VP is worse than Donald Trump.
“With Trump, the front door to the White House is wide open,” said McKay. “There’s deer and dogs and hyenas running around. And this guy is like an orangutan just throwing shit around. But Cheney was the grand master who finished the deal. Donald Trump has no belief system. So I would take the hyenas, the random wild animals running through the White House over Cheney any day of the week. If Cheney had stayed in office, let’s say we didn’t have term limits, and he was able to go another four, eight years, they would have invaded Iran.”
Not only is McKay getting serious awards buzz, but his star, Bale, is looking like he’ll get another Oscar nomination, and perhaps his first win since 2011’s “The Fighter.” And according to one of the producers, if he does, it’ll be well worth it because the actor once again went to incredible lengths to embody his character.
“I remember the day we got a bill for this crazy neck machine contraption because he thought he could get his neck more like Dick,” says producer and Gary Sanchez executive Kevin Messick. “Whatever it cost, it was worth it.”
But unlike previous roles portraying real subjects, Bale didn’t get the chance to speak with the real Dick Cheney. Bale explained, “I said, ‘Wait, every real person I’ve ever played I’ve always met.’ And they said, ‘Yes, but you’ve acquired their life rights.’ I would like to be able to sit and look Cheney in the eye and say why I feel like it’s justified to tell his story, you know? And I hope I will do it one day.”
The actor continued by talking about how he wanted to make sure he stayed neutral towards his subject, “What I really wanted to make sure that I did is that I removed any of my own politics from it … I was completely always looking for the good, for the positive, for the understandable aspect of why he would’ve made the decisions that he made. It was precisely to counter Adam and to counter what would be the assumed standpoint of the bunch of Hollywood liberals.”
READ MORE: ‘Vice’ Trailer: Christian Bale Transforms Into Infamous Veep Dick Cheney
“Vice” marks the second political film in a row for McKay and the report suggests that he’s not done yet. He wants to finish his politically-charged trilogy with a project focused on the infamous Republican elite donors, the Koch brothers.
But before that, fans will get a chance to see “Vice” when it hits theaters Christmas.