In show business, there are actors that are simply too dedicated to their craft – so much so that they sacrifice too much. Behind the glitz and glamour are artists trying their best to prove themselves by portraying their characters with all their might.
Like what chameleons do, they try to erase every essence of their personality to blend and fit right in their characters – sometimes even to the point of being unrecognizable.
Academy award-winning actor, Christian Bale is one of the back-bending character chameleons with his portrayal of former US Vice President Dick Cheney in the 2018 award-winning film Vice.
If you are not familiar with the stellar cast members of the movie, you won’t probably realize that this is the 44-year-old thespian who looked nothing like his real-life age. For that reason, you can already tell that he prepared so much and sacrificed a lot of things for the coveted role.
Machine to Thicken Neck
To play as the former vice president, Bale obviously had to gain extra pounds. Fans of the actor would know that he needed to look plump than his “real-life” physique so just to look the part, he became creative and thought of ways to have the stocky figure.
Producer Kevin J Messick said in a Q & A about the much-celebrated film that the thespian, who is known for his method acting style, was so detailed about the character that he even got a movement coach to master Cheney’s way of walking as well as learned the ex-official’s hobby, fly fishing.
But more than studying what Cheney used to do for fun and learning his gait, Messick said one of the weirdest bills they got was for a neck exercise machine, which costs $3,000 – which means Bale even wanted to make his neck broader, resembling Cheney’s heavier built.
Adam McKay, “Vice” director, explained that the star thickened his neck in an insane way and that he also used a suit to make his built look bigger.
Oscar-Winning Prosthetics and Makeup
However, it’s not only the suit that made Bale look bigger – McKay revealed that the actor actually gained weight just to feel the character, although the filmmaker said they advised him that he should do it with a doctor.
To be specific, the thespian added 40 pounds to his weight and although props should be given to the actor, it should be noted that he transformed effectively into every stage of the former vice president’s life with the help of Oscar-winning prosthetics experts and a very dedicated team.
The work seemed tedious from the point of view of the audience and the same can probably be said in reality as well – a masterpiece like that must take hours to make.
But everything is worth it: the comedy-drama biopic about Cheney’s journey from an Ivy League dropout to becoming former US President George W. Bush’s second-in-command won Golden Globe Award for Best Actor, Critics’ Choice Movie Award for Best Actor in a Comedy, Critics’ Choice Movie Award for Best Actor, and yup, the film bagged the Critics’ Choice Movie Award for Best Makeup.
Other Films of Bale
Meanwhile, doing something as drastic for a film isn’t new for Bale. He is known as a determined actor who is willing to do everything he can in order to effectively deliver the character, even if that meant looking nothing like himself.
But perhaps, the most extreme change he had to go through was for the 2004 psychological thriller film “The Machinist” where he played Trevor Reznik, wherein he lost about 62 pounds.
It was hard for people to actually see him as Bale when they saw him so thin, and losing weight took a toll on him emotionally and physically.
Shortly after production for “The Machinist” ended, he was signed for another film, this time as Batman in the 2005 superhero film “Batman Begins,” and, of course, you couldn’t imagine the superhero to be actually looking a little unhealthy.
He had six months to get bulky that’s just right for the role, and to do this, he adhered to a high-protein diet and to a heavy workout – in the end, he gained 100 pounds.
But wait, the plot twist is that, director Christopher Nolan said the actor actually overdid it and asked him to drop 20 off. After his “Vice” role, however, we might not be seeing Bale losing or gaining weight anytime sooner. He said that he couldn’t do the yo-yo diet for films anymore.
