Christian Bale is one of the most well-known actors in Hollywood, with countless blockbuster films on his resume. The Dark Knight trilogy, American Hustle, and The Fighter are just a few movies considered a success in his career, and the 48-year-old actor claims he has one man to thank for his success.
Bale recently sat down for an interview with GQ, discussing the films he made throughout his time in Hollywood spanning over 30 years. He begins to talk about American Psycho, the 2000 film directed by Marry Harron, starring Bale as Patrick Batman. The movie was a tremendous success, but as it turns out, the role was almost given to Leonardo DiCaprio. According to GQ, nearly five parts have gone to DiCaprio instead of Bale, and the actor acknowledges that he, along with the rest of Hollywood, lost a few big-time roles to the Titanic lead before.
"Oh, dude. It’s not just me. Look, to this day, any role that anybody gets, it’s only because he’s passed on it beforehand. It doesn’t matter what anyone tells you. It doesn’t matter how friendly you are with the directors. All those people that I’ve worked with multiple times, they all offered every one of those roles to him first. Right? I had one of those people actually tell me that. So, thank you, Leo, because literally, he gets to choose everything he does. And good for him, he’s phenomenal."
Bale Says He 'Owes' His Career to DiCaprio
Like Bale, Leonardo DiCaprio has a few great films as the leading man. Inception, The Departed, The Wolf of Wall Street, and The Revenant are some of DiCaprio's biggest successes; however, Bale says he doesn't take anything personal in his industry. "Do you know how grateful I am to get any damn thing? I mean, I can't do what he does," he explains. "I wouldn't want the exposure that he has either. And he does it magnificently. But I would suspect that almost everybody of similar age to him in Hollywood owes their careers to him passing on whatever project it is."
Regardless of who passes on what, Christian Bale and Leonardo DiCaprio are two of the biggest actors working today. Both have an Oscar win to their name, and their films will be regarded as classics for years to come. If you want to see more of Bale, fans can see Amsterdam, helmed by David O. Russell. The movie lands in theaters this Friday, Oct. 7.