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Last Update
- June 21th, 2003
'Reign of Fire'.
Question and Answer with Christian Bale
Phase 9 Entertainment, 2002.
Christian
Bale is Quinn
The
premiere of Reign of Fire in Dublin was a real family affair for
you, wasn't it?
Christian
Bale: My mother and gran were there, which was nice. It was also
nice for them to experience how bizarre an occasion like that
is. Unless you have been there you don't get how freakish the
whole affair feels.
Did
you have any reservations about working with CG dragons?
Christian
Bale: My initial thoughts were that it could have become a special
effects project rather than an acting project. I was a fan of
mythology, through books mainly. I really liked 'Clash of the
Titans' as a kid. These kinds of movies tend to be B- movies and
you can enjoy that. But that was not something that I wanted to
take five months out to make. I worried that it might end up with
the people in it looking a little bit foolish. Also there is how
the dragons are going to look. CGI is an incredible thing but
I've seen them use it disastrously many times before. I saw the
artwork for it and talked with the director Rob Bowman. There
were many problems with the initial script; Quinn's character
was something of a lightweight at that time. Rob said it was completely
open to what I wanted to do to that character. He was adamant
about not wanting the characters to be bland, action driven characters.
He wanted to try and stick in some kind of human interest. I'm
always also kind of attracted by movies where there is a real
challenge and a real possibility of it going really badly wrong.
I have realised that I do like that idea because I have done a
few movies now where I thought that this could easily slip one
way or the other. There have also been movies where other people
have said to me 'You are nuts for doing this? Why would you risk
doing this?' And I have kind of realised that I enjoy that really.
So
what is your love/hate relationship with acting?
Christian
Bale: Firstly, I started at a young age and some of my memories
that I think of as my life are not my life. They are scenes that
I was in. It is a very sad state of affairs. I will find myself
having dinner with people and someone will mention something and
I will say I was in that situation once. Then I'll say, forget
it, it was a scene I was in. That can get to be quite confusing.
How
did you act frightened of dragons that weren't there?
Christian
Bale: I have had directors before to open your mouth wider. But
Rob wasn't like that at all. Of course we were looking at nothing
but to me it wasn't that different from any other kind of movie
that I've done. It is all pretence; it's all fake. It's just that
some movies are more fantastical than others. I didn't want to
approach this any differently from any part I play. I don't think
that there is an actor alive who can't look at something and pretend
that there's something else there. It's all about the denial of
the reality of your surroundings.
What
about the head butt from Matthew McConaughey during the big fight
scene in Reign of Fire?
Christian
Bale: When I got the head butt I kind of hit the deck. It dropped
me like a sack of potatoes. I saw that in the movie I crawl around
the ground for a couple of seconds and try to find my bearings.
Then all I thought was 'Yes! That's going to look great!' Then
I thought I had to get up off the ground and finish the scene,
otherwise it was going to be no use. So I got up and finished
the whole thing. I could see in my peripheral vision that the
film crew were staring to see if I was all right. Then when we
finished I ran over to Matthew and asked if he was ok. He said
"Yeah you mad bastard, I head butted you".
You
were born in Wales, which has the dragon on its flag?
Christian
Bale: I'd love to be able to tell you that it is in my blood and
that I'm a true Welshman, but I'm really not. I was just born
there. There was something romantic I found when people first
started writing 'Welsh actor' because I had never felt Welsh in
my life. I'm English I think because I grew up in England. I was
out of Wales when I was one and a half. But there is a great tradition
and I always liked Richard Burton so I thought it was great when
I was called a Welsh actor and it stuck.
So
now are you still English or more American?
Christian
Bale: I have been in America since I was 17. I obviously stand
out in America, purely because of my accent. People are never
going to mistake me for being American. But I am kind of rootless
really. Even when I think of England there is no place that I
think of as being my roots. There was no town that I was in for
long enough or liked enough that I want to consider it my roots.
I also never stayed in any place long enough to have any long-lasting
friendships. So I adapt very easily to wherever I am.
Did
you go out much in Dublin when you were not working on Reign of
Fire?
Christian
Bale: I am not a big social animal, especially when I am working.
I feel really silly acting in front of other actors if I feel
I know them too well. I don't like having family come and watch
me on the set. They really know me and when I'm acting they can
see that I'm doing that. I don't want people to be able to tell
how much I am acting. We went out in Dublin a few times and Matthew
had parties at his place but most of the time he was down at the
boxing gym - sparring and just hitting somebody.
Question and
answer text copyright Buena Vista International.
Source -
www.phase9.tv