Few actors are as dedicated to their craft as Christian Bale . He’s become known for his superb method-acting and private persona.
For being one of Hollywood’s elite, very little is actually known about Christian. So to help lift the curtain, here are 10+ facts about Christian Bale that fans didn’t know!
1. Christian was the youngest person to ever play Batman on the big screen.
Christian was only thirty years old at the time that he first put on the cape and cowl.
Bale is one of only two actors, the second being Michael Keaton , to portray Batman in more than one solo film.
2. He’s an animal lover.
Christian is a devoted animal rights advocate as well as a pet owner . He has two dogs as well as three cats – all of which were strays.
In case you were wondering, sadly none of his cats are named Selina.
3. Christian takes preparation for a role incredibly seriously.
He’s one of the great method actors of our time! For his role in The Machinist , Christian supposedly lost sixty-three pounds !
As if that wasn’t crazy enough, he then had to regain all of the weight, plus another forty pounds to play Batman!
4. He often speaks with an American accent.
Christian was actually born in Wales, although you’d never notice from listening to him speak.
Since the majority of his film roles are American characters, Christian will often forego his native accent so as to not confuse audiences.
5. Christian’s first big break came when he landed a spot in a TV commercial for Pac-Man cereal.
Supposedly it was this commercial that prompted Steven Spielberg to offer Christian the part in Empire of the Sun .
Over 4000 kids auditioned for the part and Christian topped them all.
6. Whatever you do, never break his concentration during a scene.
While Christian was filming a scene for Terminator Salvation , he was interrupted by one of the cinematographers on set.
Christian absolutely erupted, unleashing a verbal tirade. To make matters worse, the whole thing was caught on tape!
Christian has since apologized for his outburst and has taken full responsibility for the unfortunate event.
“There’s really nothing I can say about that that I haven’t said already. I’ve never tried to make any excuses for it, it was unacceptable and it was my fault. That’s it.”
In fact, every one of his co-stars was quick to comment on how highly they thought of him.
Sam Worthington said that Bale is “a consummate professional, completely dedicated to his craft, doesn’t give a [expletive] about the bells and whistles of being famous.”
7. Christian used to be quite the hardcore gamer growing up.
Of the many favorites that Christian had as a child, he loved Super Mario Bros. above all others!
Can you imagine playing a game of Duck Hunt with Batman? That would literally be a dream come true for me.
8. He had some sage advice for Ben Affleck when it came time to pass on the Bat mantle.
During an appearance on The Graham Norton Show Ben recalled a chance encounter with Christian while the pair were out buying Halloween costumes for their kids.
Christian told Ben “make sure they put a zipper in that suit! I did three movies with no zipper in my outfit!”
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9. Of all the roles he’s taken on over the years, he hates one above all others.
Christian has a very long and documented hatred for the film Newsies , a Disney musical he appeared in when he was only seventeen years old.
Bale has even been quoting as saying that he felt the film did serious damage to his career trajectory.
10. Christian is an avid biker.
In fact, Christian even used to do track racing when he was younger!
However, he quickly gave it up after suffering several painful injuries . As a result, he now has a titanium clavicle, a steel plate in his wrist, as well as a few dozen screws in his hand.
11. Regardless of what the rumors say, he never auditioned to be Robin in *Batman Forever*.
“Most of the time I never bother trying to put anything right because I’m an actor, and the whole point is it doesn’t matter what’s the truth. But I do have to take a stand on that because I would never have bloody auditioned to play Robin.”
12. Christian was assaulted by government guards while promoting his film *The Flowers Of War* in China.
Bale was attempting to meet Chen Guangcheng , a dissident activist who was placed under house arrest.
But when he approached the checkpoint, his entry was refused.
Bale was brutally beaten by a gang of guards.
He tried to ask “Why can I not see this man?” only to be punched in the face and dragged away.
“What I really wanted to do was to meet the man, shake his hand and say what an inspiration he is,” Bale later said.