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While most constitute 2000’sAmerican Psychoas the beginning of Christian Bale’s ascend in Hollywood, it wasn’t the first time Bale left fans awestruck through his acting prowess. By the time the new century arrived, Bale already had associated himself with more than a dozen movies, before eventually breaking into the big leagues withAmerican Psycho.
But interestingly, long before heading intoAmerican Psycho, Bale wanted to part ways with acting after attaining huge success as a teen following his performance in Steven Spielberg’s underrated WWII epic.
Also read:“It was exactly the point I had”: Christian Bale Was Grateful for Heath Ledger Upstaging Him in The Dark Knight for a Surprising Reason
Christian Bale Almost Quit Acting After Losing His Privacy
AlthoughSteven Spielbergis no new to dealing with WWII stories, in the ’80s, it was still an untouched territory for the director, who was famous for helming huge blockbusters. But afterThe Color Purple, Spielberg opted to adapt J. G. Ballard’s semi-autobiographical-semi-fictionalized story of his experience during Japan’s invasion of China during the Second World War. Interestingly, instead of going to a prominent actor to star inEmpire of the Sun, Spielberg took in an inexperiencedChristian Baleto lead the movie.
Even though Bale rose to the challenge and succeeded with flying colors, garnering fame at such a young age had an adverse effect on his privacy as a teen, which almost pushed him to quit acting. Christian Bale toldThe Talks:
“I think it’s not really great for kids to go into such an adult profession at such a young age. It doesn’t matter how much you look at it as enjoyment, you’ll end up with responsibilities that you ideally shouldn’t have at that age. So that experience actually made me kind of think I did not want to be an actor. I didn’t really fully come back around until quite a few years later. I sort of dabbled, I did parts here and there but my heart wasn’t really in it for quite a long time after that.”
While Bale certainly“had a wonderful time with him [Steven Spielberg]”, considering how much the actor prioritizes his privacy, he was overwhelmed by the sudden exposure to fame.
Also read:“That’s just not the way I work”: Christian Bale Locked Horns With David O. Russell for the Most Bizarre Reason Only Method Actors Will
Directing Isn’t Christian Bale’s Cup of Tea Following His Loner Persona
Bale’s tendency to be a loner is one of the biggest reasons why the acclaimed actor never got into directing. Even though theBatman BeginsStar revealed that directors often told him to helm the camera, Christian Bale doesn’t find himself comfortable managing other actors, stressing he only“like being responsible for myself”. He continued,
“Directors tell me I should direct because the questions I am asking are the questions that they are asking rather than the questions that they expect to come from an actor. I do get that a lot. But there’s a great difference between being able to stand there and make suggestions when it ultimately doesn’t stop at you versus when it does. I think my issue with directing would probably be that I am kind of a loner.”
Also read:Christian Bale, Ben Affleck or Michael Keaton, Who is the Best Bruce Wayne: Batman Fans Get into a Heated Debate
It’s reasonable to see why exposure to fame this young was overwhelming for Bale, which has also been an age-old problem that teen actors keep on facing, even to this day.
Empire of the Sun is available to rent on Apple TV.
Santanu Roy
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2539
Santanu Roy is a Senior Entertainment Writer at FandomWire, majorly focusing on movies, with over 2,000 articles under his belt. He has been pursuing a degree in Animation and possesses a deep love for the medium of animation. Having spent the better part of the last two years pumping out articles for FW, Santanu excels at covering movie analysis and news surrounding Pixar, DCU, DreamWorks, and Batman’s cinematic legacy.With psychological thrillers and intimate slice-of-life dramas ranking among his favorite genres, Santanu is a big admirer of Luca Guadagnino, Shane Black, Park Chan-wook, and Brad Bird.
