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Christian Bale is one of the best actors of his generation. His commitment to his roles is astounding, and he’s often unrecognizable on screen. From losing over 60 pounds for his harrowing role in The Machinist, to gaining 40 pounds to play Dick Chaney in Vice, Bale has consistently put his body through the ringer to transform for a role. The intensity of his acting process is well known, but a video that compiles a number of his various performances really puts it all in perspective.
One user on X recently put together a handful of clips from some of Christian Bale’s most extreme body transformations over the years. It went viral, with many applauding the actor for his high level of commitment to his craft. While many were aware that Bale has disappeared into different movie roles, this video shows how drastic some of these changes truly are. You can see the video below:
The side of being an actor you don’t see pic.twitter.com/Ti0b8hSzCUFebruary 15, 2024
The transformations are very striking, but what is most notable to me is how little time there is between each movie role. The A-lister went from his impossibly skinny, meek appearance in The Machinist to his traditionally masculine, built body for Batman Begins within a year. For context, he was so thin in The Machinist, he lost elasticity in his muscles. His ability to bulk up in such little time is astounding and seems almost impossible. The amount of work and control you have to have over your own body to make such a change is mind-boggling, and something I don’t think we’ve seen from any other actor.
Christian Bale has made massive changes on the other end of the spectrum as well. After gaining a significant amount of weight in 2018 for Adam McKay’s Vice, he shrunk down to an abnormally skinny size only a year later for 2019’s Ford v. Ferrari. According to the video, there is an over 70-pound difference between those two roles, which is hard to wrap my head around. Not only is this incredibly difficult to do over and over, but it also isn’t great for the human body. Bale himself has admitted to trying to limit his own body transformations going forward, no matter how much of a committed actor he still is.
Just because the star has lessened his weight fluctuation, that doesn’t mean he is any less of a transformative actor, though. A few years ago, the Oscar winner transformed to play Gorr the God Butcher in Thor: Love and Thunder. That role allowed him to become unrecognizable with the use makeup and prosthetics, in addition to some weight loss. Also, the leading man will be playing Frankenstein in an upcoming project from Maggie Gyllenhaal, which will also likely allow him to employ the same methods. His more extreme weight transformations shown in the viral video may now be a thing of the past, yet The Dark Knight star still remains one of the most metamorphic actors of our time.
You can see Christian Bale in his latest transformative role in Thor: Love and Thunder, which is currently streaming with a Disney+ subscription. In addition, fans of the actor should also check out some lesser known flicks starring the Fighter star.