Christian Bale: Hollywood's most respected actor
Christian Bale is what would be considered as an "actor of actors", being influenced by some of the greatest actors of today.
“Christian Bale, you commit to your roles in ways that I could only dream of. You have never given a bad performance. It's infuriating. I wish you would, just once. It just sucks for once. It will be fine for you ”. Those were the words that Joaquín Phoenix gave when he received the SAG Award for Best Actor for his performance of Joker, which made dozens of actors praise him as one of the greats of this generation.
Although in that speech he spoke about the rest of the nominees, he expressed impressive respect for Bale, who is considered an institution of acting, not only because of Phoenix (who, at the Golden Globes, gave Bale a salute again), but also because of a great huge wave of actors, actresses and directors who know that if they have that actor, they will have a great performance.
Actors talk about Christian Bale
"I wanted to meet Christian because he is exciting and an awesome actor," Tom Hardy said in an interview. "I think Christian gives quality and integrity (to Batman)," he said in another, and Hardy is just another of the most acclaimed actors today.
Of course, it is not surprising to know that there are a lot of respected actors who see Christian Bale as a role model (and not just the best Batman). As Phoenix says, there is no film in which he gives a bad performance, and beyond the physical changes, he manages to transform himself in every way, although he does not consider himself a method actor.
In the world of acting there is the term "Actor's actor" (Actor of actors), and that is what Christian Bale is. His dedication to his art, willing to change his appearance, his voice and his personality, is something exceptional. "It feels like a cellular transformation," said Amy Adams, who worked with him at American Hustle.
Michael Keaton, who was a part of Batman in the late 1980s, has pointed out Bale's talents. “He is a monster. He's a great actor, ”he said when asked about Christopher Nolan's version of the character. And it is true. It doesn't matter if he plays a hero, a millionaire, an illusionist, an economist, a man with psychological problems or even the former vice president of the United States, Bale is a chameleon, not in the Johnny Depp sense, but in another deeper. When we see it on screen we never see the same actor twice.
"Christan is a good example of someone who stays with the voice and the physique of the character all the time," says Matt Damon about his experience on the set for the film Ford vs Ferrari, noting that Bale stays in character, but not on such a deep level or far from reality, but he is himself but in the skin of another person.
The son of the cinema
Being part of the film industry from a relatively young age, Christian Bale is undoubtedly one of the greatest film apprentices, having an unparalleled talent and truly dedicated to the art, and not to the fame that he represents.
The best example of this perfect understanding of cinema is the experience he had in the film American Psycho, which could serve as the beginning of his series of successes on the big screen. When filming the tape, the man gave a completely exaggerated and even a bit comical performance, generating surprise among his companions, who came to think that it was the worst they had seen. Yet he understood the vision of the story that he wanted to show director Mary Harron: a satire of the yuppie world, and a man who can barely deal with psychopathic thoughts of him. The result is considered one of the best roles in his career.
Now, there seems to be no actor who has something negative to say about Bale (not a critic). The real man is an example of what acting work in cinema should be (being one of the highest paid actors of this 2020), and if anyone can overcome it, it would be Joaquín Phoenix, but with a very different style.
