Leonardo DiCaprio has earned Christian Bale’s appreciation for unintentionally contributing to his climb to prominence.
The Amsterdam-born performer subtly ascribed his capacity to apply for and land such jobs to DiCaprio’s refusal to take part in significant films.
“Look, to this day, any job that anybody gets, it’s only because he passed on it before,” Bale remarked in a frank interview with GQ. “Ignore whatever someone says to you. Everyone I’ve collaborated with more than once gave him the top option for each of those responsibilities.”
Leo gets to select everything he does, so thank you, Leo, Bale said. And congrats to him; he is wonderful.
Bale stated that he has never taken it personally when casting directors choose the Titanic actor over him, even though others may be drawn into a game of unfriendly rivalry by the knowledge that DiCaprio allegedly receives primary preference on assignments.
“No. Do you know how grateful I am to get anything at all? I can’t behave like him, “Bale revealed. “He does a great job at it. But I’d guarantee that almost everyone in Hollywood his age owes their success in the workforce to him rejecting whatever project it may have been.”
The axe-wielding, yuppie serial murderer Patrick Bateman in the 2000 horror movie American Psycho was one part that DiCaprio turned down. Bale was able to take on the role that would subsequently propel him into popular acclaim when DiCaprio ultimately decided to leave the movie.
However, as Bale noted, taking on the role of Bateman had its own set of financial restrictions. “They had paid me the bare minimum necessary by law,” he stated. One day, while I sat in the makeup trailer, the makeup artists were laughing at me since I was getting paid less than any of them.
Bale noted that “nobody wanted me to do” the character at the time, which resulted in a lower paycheck, except the film’s director, Mary Harron.
They said that they could only succeed if they could pay me that much, Bale stated. “I was rehearsing while other individuals were playing the part. I was still getting ready. And, well, it advanced. I went insane. However, I got it back.”