Press
Last Update
- June 21th, 2003
Bale is the
Chief
Deborah Baxtrom, In Focus Magazine, Jule, 2002.
The
Brit Who Played American Psycho Gets Serious About His Movie
Career.
"Empire of the
Sun changed my life quite considerably and I didnt like it one
bit, remembers Reign of Fire star Christian Bale, who was only
13 when cast in the Spielberg-directed tale of Japanese-occupied
China.
Its always
a catch-22 with acting, says the 28-year-old Welshman. Youre
encouraged to go out and get exposure, as its called. And,
yes, youll get put on all the lists they have, but you run the
risk of becoming a celebrity who happens to act. I did a fair
amount of publicity for Empire of the Sun and felt like Id
been kicked in the teeth by it, so I really didnt do much after
that. As far as most people were concerned, I never worked again
after Empire of the Sun, and I found that beneficial for my
own life.
Despite any
widespread perceptions, he did work, and worked consistently,
appearing in more than 25 films over the last decade and a half.
He broke hearts opposite Winona Ryder in Little Women, essayed
Calista Flockharts object of desire in A Midsummer Nights Dream
and garnered much critical praise for work in movies as diverse
as Portrait of a Lady and Velvet Goldmine.
Then came
American Psycho, which proved a turning point for the actor.
Bale was
director Mary Harrons first choice to play lead psycho Patrick
Bateman, but the Brit was effectively bumped off the project when
it was reported that the far more bankable Leonardo DiCaprio was
interested. The Titanic star ultimately decided to pass, and
the title role reverted back to Bale but a lesson was learned.
American
Psycho was a wake up call. It said to me that while I dont
want to do so much publicity that I cant really be called an
actor any longer I also dont want to wait another year and
a half to do a movie that I think is worthwhile.
The thriller
was important also in that it demonstrated Bales ability to effectively
impersonate an American, and he was soon cast as another evil
Yank yuppie opposite Samuel L. Jackson in Shaft. More high-profile
opportunities followed, including the lead role in Miramaxs upcoming
science fiction actioner Equilibrium.
In Reign
of Fire, Bale butts heads literally with costar Matthew McConaughey.
In an interview with Premiere Magazine, Bale said that when he
and McConaughey cracked heads, It echoed around the castle walls
like a ripe watermelon being split.
You
play Quinn in Reign of Fire. Whats his story?
Quinn is
stuck in a nightmare really. The story begins with Quinn as a
young boy, when he accidentally unleashes the creature with hideous
results, both for him personally and for the world. When I start
playing Quinn, its in a kind of apocalyptic future where man
is no longer the dominant species. Quinn has built a community
that is barely managing to survive within the grounds of an old
castle in England. He feels responsible for everything thats
happened because if he would just have done what he was told [as
a boy] it wouldnt have happened. Unleashing the creature also
resulted in the death of his mother right in front of his eyes.
So hes a little bit screwed up.
This
role is different from any youve played before. How did you approach
it?
It is, yeah.
I purposely tried to ignore the fact that there was this fantastical
creature in the midst of the story, because Ive always felt that
the problem with so many thrill-ride movies like this special
effects movies is that for some reason they spend an awful lot
of time and money on the special effects and often completely
neglect to have any interesting characters or scenes in the film.
Its like theyre just biding time until the next incredible explosion,
or the alien appears, or whatever the hell it is. It always feels
like such a waste. Ive never believed that special effects movies
have to be that way.
You
chose to make the film based on Rob Bowmans take on the material?
Essentially
that was the reason. He did convince me. It was also me wanting
to make something that I hadnt done before. I was curious to
see if I could do a movie like this. I hadnt really been approached
to do this type of film before. But, yeah, for this specific project
it was completely Rob. It was the confidence I had in him that
made me commit. I went in thinking, Theres no way Im going
to make this movie. I came out thinking, OK, heres someone
who has exactly the same problems with these kinds of films that
I do, and hes very straightforward and forthright. Heres somebody
who, if he says this is what he wants, hes going to try his damned
hardest to get it. So suddenly the project changed from something
I wasnt interested in doing to something I really liked, which
was a different genre, a different kind of movie for me to do.
Just
before the release of American Psycho, we talked about the possibility
of that film opening new doors for you. Has it happened?
Yeah it has.
Even before American Psycho came out I was asked to make Shaft
because theyd seen some of the footage. And I very much doubt
that Rob would have known anything about me had it not been for
American Psycho, and therefore he would never have asked me
to do Reign of Fire. So it has helped a great deal. It created
more news than other movies Id made before then, which obviously
helped, but also theres been a change in my own outlook. I mean,
just getting American Psycho made was a headache because of
me because the director wanted me for it. I just got fed up
with thinking that I was going to have to continually put up with
situations where there were good scripts that I wanted to make,
that the director wanted me for, but being told by the business
side, No. Theres a level of aggressiveness that has altered
in me. I know I cant sit back and expect that its all just going
to happen. Ive got to go out and try to create it.
Do
you think appearing in a big summer film like Reign of Fire
will open a new set of doors once again?
Hopefully
so, because its obviously a great thing to have a lot of choice,
whether that be the choice of making the tiniest movie that only
four people will see, or whether it be some big summer movie.
I do really crave having that choice. If not being outright offered
then at least being able to get my foot in the door of a variety
of movies. If Id have done something on this scale before American
Psycho, we would not have had that year-and-a-half of trying
to get it made. It would have gotten made straightaway. So while
I made Reign of Fire for itself, and I really believe its going
to be a good movie, it will undoubtedly help me with all sorts
of other style movies.
What
made you choose Laurel Canyon as your follow-up to Reign of
Fire.
Once again
it was something completely different after coming off of Reign
of Fire. I knew that Frances McDormand was attached, and I really
wanted to work with her. I met up with [director Lisa Cholodenko]
and got along with her. I liked her writing. She wrote the script
and I liked her take on it. It was the complete opposite of Reign
of Fire, which was a monster of a movie with a 20-week schedule.
Laurel Canyon was five or six weeks and had very real characters.
The complete other end of the spectrum.
Can
you talk about Laurel Canyon?
Well, its
a funny thing really. I havent started doing interviews for Laurel
Canyon yet and, making the movie, I tried to avoid forming any
kind of sound bite explanation of what its about because that
always seems to make it far more simplistic than it should be.
I havent really worked one out yet, to be honest, but it is an
ensemble piece. Its essentially about relationships, sexual relationships
and family.
You
also have Equilibrium coming out this year. Whats that about?
Equilibrium
is a science fiction, action movie. Its a blending of, maybe,
Brave New World its theme is about a society where drug-taking
is enforced to prevent emotional outbursts a blending of that
and some kind of Hong Kong action movie (laughs). I play a law
enforcement officer who ceases his dose because of various circumstances.
He comes to see what hes been doing and hates the regime hes
been working for.
Equilibrium
was shot prior to Reign of Fire, correct?
Yes, I did
it before I did Reign of Fire. I was sent it while I was out
on a tiny Greek island making Captain Corellis Mandolin. Once
again, it was as radically different from what I was doing there
as is possible. It takes place in a futuristic society where emotions
are virtually nil between people. Theyre almost android-like
in their existence. On top of that, I was asked to be this serious
ass-kicker. So it was the idea of that, along with the idea of
doing a science fiction story thats something akin to Brave
New World or Fahrenheit 451. One of the indicators that made
me think the movie may be going in the right direction was that
the director had already offered the female part to Emily Watson.
Emily and I are friends, so I called her and we chatted about
it. Neither of us had ever done a movie like this. We both said,
Well, if were going to try this kind of movie, this one seems
like a good bet, so if youre going to do it I will too.
Youve
never played the leading man in a romantic comedy or drama at
least, not one where you get the girl. Do you think youll consider
doing so?
I will always
consider absolutely everything. Probably will do at some point,
but I have no plans to at the moment.
Any
other projects lined up?
There are
a couple of things that are hopefully going to come together that
Ive been talking with a couple of directors about, but nothing
is definite at the moment.
Perhaps
new choices will emerge after Reign of Fire opens.
I hope so.
Id like to avoid doing dinner theatre somewhere.
Source - www.infocusmag.com
