EXCLUSIVE: I still find romance in movies rather dull, says Christian Bale

INDIA EXCLUSIVEOne of the finest actors in contemporary cinema, Academy Award winner Christian Bale has built a celebrated body of work that reflects both his deep commitment to his craft and his fascination with extremes.

Known for constantly pushing the envelope (his normal), Bale thrives on transformation as he believes physicality informs a character.

Whether in blockbuster franchises and grand cinematic spectacles or daring independent films, his choices have always remained bold, eclectic, and refreshingly unpredictable. Following our in-person conversation with him during his 2018 visit to Mumbai, Christian Bale exclusively sat down with us once again to discuss his latest film, The Bride, a powerful, feminist reimagining of the 1935 classic Bride of Frankenstein with an unconventional love story at its heart. Directed by his The Dark Knight co-star Maggie Gyllenhaal, the film features Bale alongside Jessie Buckley in a leading role, with strong supporting performances from Penélope Cruz, Peter Sarsgaard, and Annette Bening.

Contrary to his intense, method-actor image, Bale is relaxed, observant, witty, and surprisingly chatty. Excerpts from the conversation... Your last India visit was quite interesting. I have such good memories of being in Mumbai. We had a great family trip all across India in 2018. I had a wonderful chat with you back then! My family and I went to Delhi. From Delhi, we drove to Agra, then Jaipur and finally Mumbai. Before that obviously we were in Rajasthan for some of the shooting of The Dark Knight Rises back in 2011, I think.

I remember you telling me how love stories don’t fascinate you. You had said, ‘I don’t really care to see romance in films. Of all the films, they interest me the least’. What made you change your mind for ‘The Bride’? At its heart, it is a love story between Frankenstein’s monster and his Bride. Nothing has changed. I still find romance in movies rather dull, but this ain’t that. The Bride is not a rom-com. That's what I was alluding to is that I've rarely found a rom-com to be romantic or comedic whereas this is a whole different thing.

This is like a love story out of hell. This is a love story with a vengeance. It’s a love story delivered at full throttle, dialled up to two million percent. So it's a whole different thing.

In fact, when I first read it, the words love story never even occurred to me. This was just a meeting of two absolutely beautifully insane people, who are seeking out the truth and are being given a second chance and that's what really drew me to the film.

Off screen, you’re one of the most good-looking actors, but for your roles you often alter your face and body in ways that are far from being conventionally attractive. In The Bride, your character is ostracised because of the way he looks. Does the world judge a person based on their looks? I am good looking? You are a liar! (laughs). I mean, of course, beauty is beauty I know that, but attraction is a whole different thing, right? Attraction is the sort of fire that's burning inside of somebody, the sense of adventure, the sense of wanting to live life to the full etc and that's exactly the attraction that Frank comes to have for the bride because she's unlike anyone he's ever met before.

She's so alive, you know, he thought he was alive, but he realizes he was just breathing, that was it and suddenly she is everything to him.

She becomes the centre of his universe. You are a global actor and widely popular in India. Your film, The Prestige (2006) was adapted in India (Dhoom 3). Will we see you working in an Indian film or perhaps collaborating with an Indian filmmaker? I don't have any plans for it. I have zero strategy about anything to do with my career.

I just take everything as it comes. I'm always eternally surprised that filmmakers keep hiring me but yeah, if that ends up, if there's a great story, absolutely. I would explore that. I'm always really annoying to many directors who I work with because I haven't seen any of their films. I don't see the films of other actors that I work with.

It just doesn't seem to happen for me lately. I have seen Indian films, but I haven't seen anything for quite a long time.

I'm going to really kick myself but there was a really wonderful film with Indian actors that I saw just a year ago and it really struck me and I watched it twice in a row because I loved it so much and silly me, I can't even remember the name of it.

Luca Guadagnino is making a new film adaptation of American Psycho and there have been reports that he is finding it tough to cast a new actor since your shoes are impossible for anyone else to fill. Your performance as Patrick Bateman has been legendary. All the best to whoever ends up doing that. It will be a bold choice for anyone. I don’t know what they are exactly doing but all the best to them. Timothee Chalamet in an interview named you as the GOAT of acting. What do you think of it? (Our time ran out at this point, but Bale insisted he’d take this question. ‘I'm kind of loving it because she's calling me the goat of cinema. Wait, I want to hear more of that’, he tells his team.Timothee and I, we worked together in Hostiles (2017) and he had a scene out in the desert. It was like three o'clock in the morning. I didn't know anything about Timothee then. Suddenly there's this kid, he was 20 at the time and he did this amazing monologue. I sat there thinking, who is this guy? And the scene got cut crazily from the film. But I could see at that point that he's very, very special and obviously he knows what he's talking about if he says, I'm the GOAT (smiles).- Renuka Vyavahare ([email protected])