The director of American Psycho fought to hold Christian Bale in the lead role, in accordance to Bale. Based on the 1991 novel of the equal title with the aid of Bret Easton Ellis, American Psycho facilities on Patrick Bateman, an funding banker who leads a double existence as a serial killer. However, the ending of the movie implies that the activities of the story took area in unreliable narrator Bateman's twisted mind, all section of his inflated ego and self-mythologizing. The novel used to be written as a criticism of male values the creator had observed, and the movie adaptation's director Mary Harron leaned into the societal reviews to create a darkly comic satire.
Released in 2000, American Psycho starred Bale in the lead function alongside an spectacular roster, together with Willem Dafoe, Jared Leto, Reese Witherspoon, Josh Lucas, Samatha Mathis, and Chloë Sevigny. Due to the film's surprising fee and violence, it shortly grew to become controversial and debuted to combined reviews, even though it managed to spawn a straight-to-video sequel starring Mila Kunis. American Psycho has long gone on to turn out to be a massively iconic movie in pop culture, creating a cult following as properly as being credited for launching Bale to stardom. However, he wasn't the first preference for the role, with preceding reviews revealing that Leonardo DiCaprio used to be one of the main contenders for the phase of Bateman. Harron, however, used to be set on casting Bale.
In a dialog with GQ, Bale opened up about his battle to acquire the function of Bateman in American Psycho, revealing that he customary the "absolute minimum" charge in order to win the part. Despite the actor's many credit as a baby and younger person actor prior to his American Psycho casting, he states that solely Harron desired him in the film. Bale's acceptance of the minimal pay ended up sealing the deal, and he went on to play one of the most iconic movie characters of the early 2000s. See what Bale had to say about the ride below:
"Well, in honesty, the first element used to be that I’d taken so lengthy making an attempt to do it, and they had paid me the absolute minimal they have been legally allowed to pay me...I have in mind one time sitting in the makeup trailer and the make-up artists have been laughing at me due to the fact I used to be getting paid much less than any of them. [The low pay] used to be the nature of me in it. Nobody desired me to do it besides the director. So they stated they would solely make it if they ought to pay me that amount. I was once prepping for it when different human beings had been taking part in the part. I was once nonetheless prepping for it. And, you know, it moved on. I misplaced my mind. But I received it back."
Learning of Bale's low pay and uphill warfare to grow to be Bateman is a shock thinking about the film's final sturdiness and persisted relevance. However, at the time of Bale's casting two many years past, he was once nevertheless incredibly unknown, specially when in contrast to '90s heartthrob DiCaprio. Bale's casting ended up being key to the film's long-term success, seeing that Harron's adaptation hinged on his capability to carry the larger-than-life personality to life, balancing the darkly comedian factors of the movie with its repute as a thriller. Known for his skills as a chameleon, Bale had the special capacity to convey Harron's imaginative and prescient of the personality to life, permitting the movie to stay a satire instead than the heady psychological drama an actor like DiCaprio can also have added to the table. Additionally, with some other actor in the lead, specifically any individual greater customary at the time, American Psycho would have run the hazard of feeding into Bateman's self-aggrandizing, when the whole factor of the movie is to satirize that very quality.
Fighting for the position of Bateman paid off for Bale as well, notwithstanding a quick profession droop that observed the controversial film. As his first primary main role, American Psycho offered Bale as an actor adept at tackling darkish and nuanced roles, sooner or later launching him into components in 2004's The Machinist, and 2006's The Prestige, in addition to Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy. His section in American Psycho is nonetheless the stuff of pop subculture legend and lives on in memes, references, and different mediums, proving that Harron used to be right to battle for Bale as the star.