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Credits - Production Details
Apr. 8th, 2005 01:21 pmChristian Bale started in films at the age of 13, staring in Spielberg's 'Empire of the Sun'. He will achieve a new level of fame soon as the lead in Batman Begins but Bale has always been a popular actor, having been a cult fave with multiple internet fan sites long before Ewan and JRM. Like his costars, he has played a range of roles – period films, like Little Women and Portrait of a Lady, beleaguered lovers in Metroland and Laurel Canyon, and then there are the extremes like American Psycho and The Machinist. Not too many actors could list both Patrick Bateman and Jesus of Nazareth on their resumés.
Bale has never had much need to rail against conformity. As the son of an ex-airline pilot and a circus dancer, he says, the most rebellious thing could have done was to "stick on a shirt and tie and go to work in a bank". Perhaps that is why he is "perversely drawn" to suburbanites such as Chris [in Metroland] and Arthur. "I'm attracted to characters who appear to be passive observers, who aren't obviously interesting."
~ The Independent, 1998
"Bale was looking to shake up his career a few years back, and Haynes was exactly the sort of unique indie powerhouse a true shake-up called for. "I knew about Todd because I'd seen Safe; I saw Poison later because for some reason you couldn't rent it in England. And then a friend showed me Superstar, which is a pretty amazing film--you do get to feel for these Barbie dolls." Goldmine also constitutes Bale's first visit to sexual territory that might make Louisa May Alcott blush. "There was only one sex scene; Ewan and I thought it was going to be much more graphic than it was. There was this mattress on the rooftop, and we assumed we'd be totally naked, going at it. But it was more restrained in the end. I like being left alone a fair amount on a film, and Todd and I were on the same track together. For several scenes he'd say, 'I can't wait to see what you're going to do,' because he didn't know. I liked that." ~ The Village Voice, October 28 - November 3, 1998
Todd: "What's interesting is that Arthur really listens more than he speaks, he's the journalist and he's always interviewing people. I found when he was reading with Susie Figgis -- and she was doing most of the talking and he was just listening to her -- I could not take my eyes off him. Not just because he's very handsome, his concentration was so amazing. I wanted to watch him listening to her. It was clear that this was going to work very well."
Once again, Christine Vachon relates an anecdote in Shooting to Kill about her stars that show their decent side, "Agents will push for as many perks as they can get, but it's not always easy to discern if the actor actually gives a damn. ... I approached Christian Bale ...to ask if I could get a ride in his car to my apartment. He had only been on the set for a couple of days, so I didn't really know him, but he seemed nice enough. He didn't take kindly to my request, though. "My contract, " he said curtly, "says I get an exclusive ride to and from the set." It did, so that was that. When I started to turn away, he said, "Christine." Big grin. "I'm kidding." The thing is, you never know. Plenty of actors value their privacy when they come to the set in the morning and leave at night."
Bale has never had much need to rail against conformity. As the son of an ex-airline pilot and a circus dancer, he says, the most rebellious thing could have done was to "stick on a shirt and tie and go to work in a bank". Perhaps that is why he is "perversely drawn" to suburbanites such as Chris [in Metroland] and Arthur. "I'm attracted to characters who appear to be passive observers, who aren't obviously interesting."
~ The Independent, 1998
"Bale was looking to shake up his career a few years back, and Haynes was exactly the sort of unique indie powerhouse a true shake-up called for. "I knew about Todd because I'd seen Safe; I saw Poison later because for some reason you couldn't rent it in England. And then a friend showed me Superstar, which is a pretty amazing film--you do get to feel for these Barbie dolls." Goldmine also constitutes Bale's first visit to sexual territory that might make Louisa May Alcott blush. "There was only one sex scene; Ewan and I thought it was going to be much more graphic than it was. There was this mattress on the rooftop, and we assumed we'd be totally naked, going at it. But it was more restrained in the end. I like being left alone a fair amount on a film, and Todd and I were on the same track together. For several scenes he'd say, 'I can't wait to see what you're going to do,' because he didn't know. I liked that." ~ The Village Voice, October 28 - November 3, 1998
Todd: "What's interesting is that Arthur really listens more than he speaks, he's the journalist and he's always interviewing people. I found when he was reading with Susie Figgis -- and she was doing most of the talking and he was just listening to her -- I could not take my eyes off him. Not just because he's very handsome, his concentration was so amazing. I wanted to watch him listening to her. It was clear that this was going to work very well."
Once again, Christine Vachon relates an anecdote in Shooting to Kill about her stars that show their decent side, "Agents will push for as many perks as they can get, but it's not always easy to discern if the actor actually gives a damn. ... I approached Christian Bale ...to ask if I could get a ride in his car to my apartment. He had only been on the set for a couple of days, so I didn't really know him, but he seemed nice enough. He didn't take kindly to my request, though. "My contract, " he said curtly, "says I get an exclusive ride to and from the set." It did, so that was that. When I started to turn away, he said, "Christine." Big grin. "I'm kidding." The thing is, you never know. Plenty of actors value their privacy when they come to the set in the morning and leave at night."
