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Christian Bale turns 41 today, Jan. 30, and in honor of his birthday, THR is taking a look at his various intense body transformations over the years.
From The Machinist to The Dark Knight to American Hustle, Bale has shown that his dedication to acting goes beyond the cerebral.
“People start just going, ‘Oh yeah, that guy’s a real workout fanatic,’ and that’s not me, that’s Patrick Bateman,” Bale said of bulking up for American Psycho. A few years later, the actor went from 180 to 120 pounds for his role in The Machinist, reportedly eating only an apple and a can of tuna daily. Apparently, the writer for the film is four inches shorter than Bale and had put his own weights into the script, never intending Bale to become that thin for the part. Bale chose to take on the challenge, and even wanted to drop down to 100 pounds but the filmmakers asked him not to for the sake of his health.
After The Machinist, Bale weight lifted to get back up to 220 for Batman Begins and then dropped down to become thin for The Fighter. His role in American Hustle gave him the opportunity to just pig out on sweets as he went back up to 228 from 185. “I ate lots of doughnuts, a whole lot of cheeseburgers and whatever I could get my hands on. I literally ate anything that came my way,” Bale told People.
Happy birthday, Christian Bale — thank you for the shirtless memories of the past and all the ones to look forward to in the future.
American Psycho (2000)
Reign of Fire (2002)
The Machinist (2004)
Batman Begins (2005)
American Hustle (2013)
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