Christian Bale on the secrets of his “weird” transformation in 'Amsterdam'

Tuesday

Sept 27 2022

Christian Bale has never been afraid to push the limits of his own body. He lost 60 pounds for The Machinist (2004) and added 100 pounds of muscle for Batman Begins. In his latest movie, Amsterdam, Bale transforms into a wounded World War I veteran with a glass eye, a painful back brace, and an addiction to experimental 1930s painkillers.

To get into the role, which Bale developed with director David O. Russell over the course six years, the actor would follow random people on the street and imitate their behavior. He also wore a special “glass eye” contact lens, which he says was almost absorbed into his eyeball “like egg whites” when he wore it too long.

Earlier this month, we had a chance to speak with Bale about his new movie, but we couldn’t let the opportunity slide without asking about Batman, Thor: Love and Thunder, and American Psycho. Check out the first part of that interview below.

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Interviews

Christian Bale on the secrets of his “weird” transformation in 'Amsterdam'

There's an urban legend about Christian Bale. The story goes that on the set of American Psycho, Bale was able to sweat on command. The moment the director said “action!” beads of perspiration would immediately start to form on his face.

The truth is slightly less impressive.

“I didn't plan on doing that,” Bale tells Inverse. “[American Psycho author] Bret Easton Ellis actually described it in this scene as his breathing sort of getting stopped. And so in doing that, I just found that beads of sweat kept breaking out on my forehead. But that wasn't actually planned. It was just a result of what I was doing with my breathing.”

Bale has taken on plenty of physically demanding roles throughout his acting career, and his latest is no exception. In David O. Russell’s Amersterdam, Bale plays Burt Berendsen, an injured and traumatized World War I veteran who wears a glass eye and a painful back brace. Along with his friends Harold Woodsman (John David Washington) and Valerie Voze (Margot Robbie), Burt gets caught up in a deadly conspiracy that goes all the way to the top of 1930s high society.

Detox

Why you shouldn't sleep in on the weekend (sorry)

It's one of life’s most irritating truths: The restful joy of sleeping in on the weekend will likely be followed by a brutal wake-up come Monday morning. Sleeping in on the weekend is tempting, especially if you don’t feel like you’re getting enough sleep during the work week.

But while temporarily satisfying, those extra hours may do more harm than good. Inverse spoke to two sleep experts about the pros and cons of sleeping in on the weekend and how you can develop better sleep patterns overall.

GAME THEORY

'FF7 Rebirth' needs to preserve one of the original’s best sequences

Final Fantasy VII Remake is a sprawling reinvention of the 1997 original’s opening Midgard section. Square Enix not only lovingly recreated one of the most iconic video game settings ever, but they fleshed out short sequences like Wall Market into grand adventures in their own right. With the approach of the second chapter in the remake series, Final Fantasy VI Rebirth, Square Enix needs to give some love to one of the best moments of Final Fantasy VII: the dating sequence in the Gold Saucer amusement park.

Cloud Strife is popular with the ladies. Maybe he doesn't ooze charm like Zack Fair, but something about his moody vibes and spiky hair just screams “you can fix him.”

CARDBOARD CRITTERS

Why do cats love cardboard boxes? Pet experts decode the obsession

Cats are no strangers to cardboard boxes, as any feline owner knows well. But what is it about these flimsy square crates that make our kitties go wild?

While we can’t say for certain, pet experts and feline scientists have begun making inroads into the mysteries of the cat’s mind in recent years.

“If your cat has become attached to a cardboard box, why deny them that pleasure?” Molly DeVoss, a certified feline training specialist who runs the nonprofit Cat Behavior Solutions, tells Inverse.

Trick or Treat

Boo! 10 best spooky games on Xbox Game Pass to play this fall

Autumn is a time for falling leaves, hot cider, and — especially as Halloween approaches — embracing the creepy. Whether you want outright horror or a chiller kind of spookiness, there’s a game to fit your autumnal mood.

Here are the 10 best spooky games to play on Xbox Game Pass this autumn.

Meanwhile...

Researchers uncover how your brain knows something is food

This new Webb Telescope picture of the beloved Orion Nebula is glorious

'Daredevil: Born Again' won't be the Netflix follow-up fans wanted

'She-Hulk' Episode 5 finally solves its biggest Marvel mystery

Today in history: Chinese astronaut Zhai Zhigang performed China's first spacewalk September 27, 2008.

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Christian Bale on the secrets of his “weird” transformation in 'Amsterdam'

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