Christian Bale

Christian Charles Philip Bale (born January 30, 1974) is a Welsh actor from Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire. Bale gained fame when cast in the starring role of Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun at the age of 13. Recently, Bale has earned praise as the newest Batman in 2005's Batman Begins, co-starring Sir Michael Caine and Cillian Murphy, both of whom also earned sterling reviews.

Trivia

• Christian Bale is known for his flawless ability to mimic accents. He has used a different one in almost every movie he has acted in. In 2005, he told Fresh Air interviewer Terry Gross that he tends to continue using a role's accent during the promotional interviews he does for a film, so as not to confuse his potential audience.
• Bale is usually critically lauded not only because of his excellent acting abilities, but also in the nature of his film roles. Bale seems interested in often portraying menacing, dark, or mentally complex characters, rather than mainstream-type heroes who would more immediately attract an audience. For instance, Bale seems unafraid to portray controversial characters, like the violent Patrick Bateman in American Psycho, or a homosexual character in Velvet Goldmine. Taking on these characters could have been great risks both to his career and his public reputation. However, they have earned him respect and kudos from many film critics and loyal fans.
• Because of his remarkable turn as the crazed, superficial New York yuppie Patrick Bateman in the controversial "American Psycho", Bale became quite a cult figure-- once ranked in the top fifteen cult figures of all time by film experts.
• Bale has stated that he believes in the historic existence of Jesus Christ and has positively commented on some of the ideology that Jesus preached. However, he remains mum and quite private in detailing his own personal religious beliefs.
• Bale is an excellent horseman and avid reader and he also has a reputation as a great animal lover. He has two dogs called Mojo and Ramone and three cats called Miriam, Molly, and Lilly. He does not eat red meat, reputedly due to reading the book Charlotte's Web. He is active in several environmental and animal protection organizations including the Ark Trust, Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund.
• His great-uncle Rex Bale was also an actor.
• On January 29, 2000 he married Sibi Blazic (Winona Ryder introduced them). Their daughter was born March 27, 2005, but they have refused to reveal her name to the public.
• Bale's father, businessman David Bale married American feminist icon Gloria Steinem in 2000. It was her first marriage. David died of a brain lymphoma on December 30, 2003, at the age of 62.
• Bale dropped 63 pounds for The Machinist. After wrapping up the movie, he regained the 63 pounds within six weeks to audition for the lead in Batman Begins. Bale then put on an additional 40 pounds of muscle for the film.
• His height: 6 ft 0 in (183 cm). Bale himself has said he is 6 feet tall, despite rumours which put him at 6 ft 2 in.
• Bale was among the actors considered for the role of Robin in Batman Forever.
• Internet fans played a part in the casting of Bale as Batman. Bale was considered for the role of Batman in the cancelled Wolfgang Petersen picture Batman vs. Superman in 2002. Even after the collapse of the project, many Internet fans supported the idea of Bale as Batman thanks to his roles in American Psycho and Equilibrium. This support lead to Bale's audition and subsequent casting in 2003.
• Bale beat out several up and coming actors for the role of Batman including Henry Cavill, Jake Gyllenhaal, Joshua Jackson, Cillian Murphy (who ended up playing a villain against Bale's Batman), Hugh Dancy, and Billy Crudup.
• Some of his fans call themselves Baleheads.
• Rumour has it that he is the main contender for the role of Solid Snake in a film adaptation of Metal Gear Solid games.