Christian Bale has had a wide, varied career since his early breakout as a kid actor in Steven Spielberg‘s 1987 film “Empire Of The Sun.” But what performance of Bale’s do moviegoers find ubiquitous with the actor? For some, it’s his turn as deranged finance guy Patrick Bateman in Mary Harron‘s “American Psycho.” For others, it’s a more recent role, like Brit road racer Ken Miles in “Ford V. Ferrari.” But for most, it’d have to be Bale’s turn as Bruce Wayne and his crimefighting alter ego in Christopher Nolan‘s “The Dark Knight” trilogy.
In his new cover story for GQ, Bale opened up that he wished that weren’t the case. In fact, the actor, known for his intense commitment to his performances, was afraid he’d be stuck playing Batman for the rest of his career. But at least the money from the role would allow Bale to quit acting altogether. “I loved that because I was like, ‘This could be it. I could never be anything but that.’ And for a lot of people, I won’t,” Bale told GQ. “I was like, ‘Ah, maybe I’m going to be forced to go do something different.’ And maybe this fucking thing [acting] that I got forced into doing as a kid that I didn’t fucking want to do in the first place, I’m out. And I’m free. And then it didn’t happen.”
And Bale did what he could while he shot those films to create a buffer zone between them and their popularity? “I always just felt like it was a thing that someone else did, really, in a lot of ways, Bale continued. “I was like, ‘Oh, yeah. That thing happened over there. And that’s doing very well over there, I hear. That’s great.’ And I’m going off to Ralphs, the supermarket, to get bananas.” Bale is obviously playing it humble here, because even if he’s going to the store for groceries like everybody else, he remains forever connected to Nolan’s films (and he made millions of dollars making them, too).
But where did Bale’s fear of the part stem from? After all, one wouldn’t consider the Batman role as one the actor abhorred, given how strong his performances are. For Bale, it comes down to what he looks for as an actor. “I’ve never considered myself a leading man. It’s just boring,” Bale said. “You don’t get the good parts. Even if I play a lead, I pretend I’m playing like, you know, the fourth, fifth character down, because you get more freedom. I also don’t really think about the overall effect that [a character’s] going to have. It’s for me to play around, much like animals and children do. Have tunnel vision about what you’re doing, not think about the effect you’re having.”
So, in other words, the Bruce Wayne/Batman character didn’t exude the qualities Bale typically looks for in roles. And if he ended up playing the character for the rest of his career, he’d lose that sense of freedom he wants to inhabit in each of his performances. But, of course, Bale’s fears must have been short-lived after realizing that Nolan wanted to end the films as a trilogy. Plus, it’s not like Bale couldn’t have jumped ship if “The Dark Knight” saga had a couple of additional movies; he’s known for making unexpected choices in his career. In Bale’s words, he’s conducted his career with “zero strategy. I think some people mistakenly believe that I am a leading man, and it just keeps on going and I don’t understand it.”
A close look at Bale’s filmography proves his point: more often than not, he’s playing a secondary or tertiary role in an ensemble, or playing off another actor who’s just as much a lead as he is. His recent turn as Gorr the God-Butcher in “Thor: Love And Thunder” is a good example of that. So, his role as Wayne in Nolan’s Batman films are a bit of an anomaly in his career, but one lots of film fans are grateful for. Catch Nolan next in David O. Russell‘s “Amsterdam,” in theaters this Friday.