A look back at one of the most incredible physical transformations in cinema: that of Christian Bale for the film “The Machinist”.
Some actors go to great lengths for roles. But Christian Bale is undoubtedly the one who went through the physical transformation in order to play a character on screen. This character was Trevor, a paranoid and insomniac worker in the feature film The Machinist, released in theaters in 2005.
28 kilos less
For The Machinist, Christian Bale, who recently admitted his dream of playing a specific character in the Star Wars saga, has lost weight. Lots of weight. After filming Equilibrium, a film in which he displays muscles as impressive as those in American Psycho, the actor has shed… 28 kilos!
To prepare for his role in The Machinist, Christian Bale clearly put himself in danger since he ate for three months on a can of tuna and an apple per day (!), reaching the critical weight of 55 kilos. The actor would have even dropped to 45 kilos if the producers had not encouraged him to stop, fearing for his health.
“Christian starved himself, exhausted, to approach the state of mind of his character”says director Brad Anderson. “It was sometimes a little scary. I insisted that he be medically monitored. (…) Sometimes, to better play a scene he would not sleep during the two previous nights.”
Michael Ironside, who stars in The Machinist, revealed an improbable anecdote about Christian Bale’s weight loss for the film. “I remember, one day, I came to work one morning, we were filming in Barcelona”he says. “Suddenly I heard “Pssst! Michael!” It was Christian, who said to me, “Can you look at this?” He then turned around and pulled down his pants. He was naked under his clothes.”
“Your butt is literally falling!”
“He had lost a terrifying amount of weight for his character”continues Ironside. “He says to me, ‘Can you look at my butt? I think there’s a problem.” They had indeed completely melted, they were falling. I replied to him “Your butt is literally falling.” “What do you mean by that?” I replied “You’re well beyond losing weight, and now you’re losing the elasticity in your muscles altogether.” He turned around, and I wasn’t sure how he was going to react to what I had just told him. . He said ‘Cool!'”
After this performance which is, let’s be honest, a little scary (especially if you’ve seen the film), Christian Bale, true to his reputation, will gain all his weight back (and even more) for the filming of Batman Begins. Did you say throwing yourself headlong into a role?
#Fun Facts Christian Bale: did you know he was cast for “Titanic”?