Press
Last Update
- June 21th, 2003
Christian Bale's New Reign
Bonnie Siegler, www.atnzone.com, 2002.
Hes one of
the most downloaded men on the Internet. Hes was named by Entertainment
Weekly Magazine as one of the "Most Creative People in Entertainment";
"Premiere Magazine" hailed him as one of the "Hottest
Leading Men Under 30" and "Interview Magazine"
dubbed him one of the "Most Wanted Actors of the New Millennium.
In a decade-plus career spanning a variety of versatile roles,
Welsh born Christian Bale was first introduced to audiences in
Steven Spielbergs WWII epic, 'Empire of the Sun'. He was handpicked
by Winona Ryder to break hearts opposite her in 'Little Women'
and he garnering praise for anumber of memorable performances
following "Women". But it was his gruesomely comic turn
as a fashion-conscious serial killer in 'American Psycho' that
caught everyones attention, including critics who unanimously
acclaimed the young actor for his brave performance.
Standing
over 6 feet tall, Bale is affable, charismatic and handsome, not
in a threatening way, though. Now making Los Angeles home where
he lives with filmmaker wife, Sibi, and dogs, Christian is active
supporting various animal rights causes and was recently named
to the Honorary Board of Directors of Ark Trust.
Now starring
as Quinn, a fire chief responsible for warding off fire-breathing
dragons and keeping a small community alive in 'Reign of Fire',
Bale provides a realistic portrayal of a futuristic hero. His
methods are to wait out the dragons if humans can survive as
the dragons die off. But enter Denton Van Zan (Matthew McConaughey),
an aggressive American dragon-slayer. And the battle begins.
So
what was it about this movie that interested you?
Firstly,
I was kind of surprised that they were interested in me for it
because it isnt like any kind of movie I had done before. Ive
also enjoyed going to huge action movies before with lots of special
effects, but have thought that the special effects have often
got in the way of any kind of story. When I met with Rob (Bowman/director),
he had all of the same concerns that I did about what could go
wrong but found he had a strong sense of how to direct this. I
was fearful that CGI would put in friendly dragons or dragons
with hats on or dragons that talked and that I wouldnt have control
over that whatsoever ultimately mortified when the movie would
come out. But with Rob, we sort of made a pact that we would do
this as long as we could ensure we got to make the sort of movie
he wanted to make.
Had
it always been a childhood dream to be a dragon slayer?
What I found
that I actually enjoyed is that I didnt realize I would actually
like the action of it all.
Where
there any injuries?
There were
some. Matthew head butted me in a phenomenal fashion one time
and its actually in the movie. I came up with a huge welt on
my forehead and everybody said it sounded like some huge watermelon
cracking. But I was happy to be head butted for it it was a
fun sequence and we said to each other beforehand to try and make
it as dirty as possible because fight sequences are often so clean
in movies. So we really went for it, rolling down hills and smacking
our heads on boulders. Then we stood up and in a moment, Matthew
just head butted me, but it was great. We only had to do that
in one take.
Quinn
is a quiet superhero of sorts. Did you have a favorite superhero
growing up?
As a kid,
I dont remember his name. I like the big brick guy just the
visual thing of him being made out of bricks intrigued me. And
I guess when I first read one of the graphic "Batman"
novels and saw the dark, twisted side of that character, it intrigued
me.
Did
you have to work out very much for this role or are you in pretty
good shape generally?
I tend to
be kind of obsessive about that; it is really all or nothing.
With 'Reign' I actually turned up in Ireland and I had been kind
of dieting because I though we should all be painfully skinny.
But then I got there and had a few weeks of rehearsals and realized
that Van Zan was going to be a pretty big guy and I had to look
like I could compete with him somehow. So I went into manic training
for a couple of weeks. Then when I saw Matthew I said "Oh
my God" so I worked out like crazy a couple of weeks.
Did
life change very much for you after American Psycho? Did you have
any sort of weird reactions from people on the street?
No, actually
in everyday life, it doesnt happen. I mean, the fact that so
many people seem to be fans of it and enjoyed the movie, Im glad
when anybody does say that they appreciate it. It was a difficult
movie to get made. But in terms of work, it did change things.
I am sure I wouldnt have been offered this role if it hadnt
been for American Psycho because it created some kind of awareness
that I hadnt had previously.
Your
next project is 'Laurel Canyon'. Can you talk a bit about that
film?
I made that
movie after 'Reign of Fire'. Its directed by Lisa Cholodenko
who did High Art. Its with Frances McDormand and Kate Beckinsale.
It was ideal coming out of making 'Reign of Fire' because it was
entirely opposite to the action film. Going from such action and
sci-fi to utterly everyday real characters was great. I play the
son of an eccentric record producer (McDormand) and his form of
rebellion growing up around sex, drugs and rock nroll.
Youve
turned down obvious roles in the past?
There have
been some but its not as if I have had incredible choices. Has
there been talk about 'Reign of Fire' 2? Its kind of been joked
about. I bought a house after doing Reign of Fire and they went
`Oh great, we have him for the sequel. But other than that, nobody
has mentioned anything (laugh).
You
do live in Los Angeles now?
I do actually
live here but I moved around an awful lot when I was growing up
so I have always kind of been able to settle wherever I fancy.
I am not really bothered.
Anything
coming up?
I did 'Equilibrium'
but its been delayed in release. So, no I dont have anything
Im working on nowguess I better, huh (laugh).
Source - www.atnzone.com
