Christian Bale what the hell have you been doing to yourself, guy? It looks as though someone took a human life sucking sponge to Batman but don’t worry guys, his extreme dieting has been done all in the name of dedicated filmmaking.
Images from David O. Russell’s The Fighter have been released and to play the role of Dicky Ecklund – a former boxing hero that squandered his talents and threw away his shot at greatness to pursue a life of petty crime – he apparently had to lose enough weight to resemble a fossilized prune.
It’s not the first time Christian has flirted with anorexia for a role; remember The Machinist? To play the role of a chronic insomniac he lost 27 kilos. A lot of the time a dramatic physical transformation is the precursor to an awards season Gold Rush (e.g. Charlize Theron in Monster, Nicole Kidman in The Hours, Robert De Niro in Raging Bull, etc), but Bale’s efforts in The Machinist didn’t pay off. Maybe this time he’ll have more luck.
Steve from film blog The Collider recently wrote: “The Fighter is one of the best films I’ve seen this year and if you just know Christian Bale from his work as Batman, you will not believe your eyes when you watch The Fighter. Christian Bale rips through the film like a tornado and he’s easily the front runner to win an Oscar.”
Bale, we salute your commitment to cinema but next time give your body a break and play a fat dude.
