Christian Bale has acted in a number of important movies over his career. What relevance does Leonardo DiCaprio have to this, then? Bale will counter that if you ask why, DiCaprio passed on several roles.
The reason why Christian Bale is thanking Leonardo DiCaprio may surprise you.
The 48-year-old actor said in a new cover story for GQ’s November issue that DiCaprio turning down many of the starring parts helped him land them.
Consider Bale’s performance in American Psycho. According to rumors, DiCaprio had a connection to the 2000 movie before Bale was chosen to play Patrick Bateman. In fact, according to GQ writer Zach Baron, there are rumors that DiCaprio has beaten out Bale for a number of parts, including the character of Jack Dawson in Titanic.
So what is Bale’s reaction to this? “Oh, man. I’m not the only one,” said he. “Look, everybody who receives a part today only does so because he previously declined it. No matter what anyone tells you, ignore it. How cordial you are with the directors is irrelevant. Everyone I’ve collaborated with more than once gave him the first option for each of those responsibilities. Right? One of those people actually said something to me.”
The former Ford v. Ferrari employee continued by thanking DiCaprio. “So thank you Leo,” he said, “because he literally gets to pick whatever he does.” And congratulations to him; he is amazing.”
Bale denied taking this personally when asked whether he did. “No. Do you realize how appreciative I am to receive anything at all? “He answered. “I mean, I can’t perform his actions. He has publicity, and I wouldn’t want it either. He performs it admirably. But I’d wager that practically everyone in Hollywood his age owes their professional success to him turning down whatever project it was.”
To be fair, Bale is a star in his own right, appearing in films like The Machinist, American Hustle, The Big Short, and The Dark Knight. Not to mention, he has received four Oscar nominations, winning the prize in 2011 for his supporting performance in The Fighter. Additionally, he shot three other films last year: The Pale Blue, Amsterdam, and Thor: Love and Thunder.
Bale stated that he “never considered myself a leading guy” and that he had “zero strategy” for his success. The cause?
It’s just dull, he declared. “The positive aspects are not yours. Even though I play the protagonist, I always behave like the fourth or fifth character down because you have more creative freedom. I also don’t give much thought to a character’s potential impact on the larger narrative. It’s for me to have fun, just like with animals and kids. Focus only on what you are doing and ignore the impact that you are creating.”
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