Christian Bale has been in front of the camera for a long time. The American Psycho actor’s first significant role (besides a few television parts) was as a child in Steven Spielberg’s 1987 film Empire of the Sun. The actor is known for being all in and throwing himself into a role–like losing 70lbs for Ford v Ferrari–which, while appreciated by audiences for its authenticity, can take a toll on a performer. Now, in an interview for Netflix’s historical fiction horror film The Pale Blue Eye, Bale discussed his love-hate relationship with acting.
The leads of The Pale Blue Eye cast, Christian Bale and costar Harry Milling sat down for an interview with Hits Radio, where the pair talked about their time on the Scott Cooper-directed flick. The show’s host asked the pair of actors to discuss their first memories of acting, and The Dark Knight star was quick to point out he couldn’t remember his first time. Bale added that he has always had a love-hate relationship with his profession. He told the host:
I’ve always hated it and loved it. It’s always been a total kind of fight with me. ‘I don’t want to do this. I hate it.’ And then, ‘Oh, I do quite like it.’ It’s been like that since I first started.
This is not the first time The Fighter actor has spoken out about feeling somewhat unsatisfied with acting, even going as far as saying he would be “fucking ecstatic” with retiring. Still, Bale shows up and chooses the big screen because despite hating it, he also ‘does quite like it’.’
Bale added that he performed skits with his primary school friend when he was younger, and he immensely enjoyed that. And, despite the show host’s compliments, he’s not sure how long he’ll still go. He continued:
I did use to do little skits with a friend of mine in one of the primary schools I was at. We used to do that and enjoy it. Thank you very much [for telling me I’m good at it]. I’ll see if I keep going.
Here’s hoping Christian Bale keeps his career going because I couldn’t imagine the cinema landscape without someone like him pushing the envelope and dedicating themselves to the craft. There are few actors out there who bring the sort of intensity that the American Hustle star does with his performances, so it would be a bummer if he decided to call it quits.
However, he hasn’t yet as he appeared in The Pale Blue Eye, a murder mystery-thriller surrounding a fictional take on Edgar Allan Poe (Milling) while he attended West Point. Bale plays a world-weary detective hired to investigate the murder of a cadet, with the help of young Poe at his side. This movie marks another role that Christian Bale unabashedly threw himself into, and hopefully, there is more to come.
The Pale Blue Eye is currently available to stream for anyone with a Netflix subscription. If you want even more to watch after completing Scott Cooper’s new thriller, there are plenty of great movies on Netflix worth checking out.