Celebrities - Christian Bale Appreciation #10: Because we prefer him with the Funny Pants off!

*Shannon* · 08-12-2006, 07:15 PM

Welcome to the Christian Bale Appreciation Thread!

Biography

Christian Bale was born to David Bale and a mother (Jenny James according to some sources) who was a circus performer. He has three older sisters: Erin Bale (married name: Kreunen) (a musician), Sharon Bale (a computer professional) and Louise Bale (a director/actress). Christian spent his childhood in a variety of countries including England, Portugal and the United States.

He began his acting career by appearing in a Pac-man cereal commercial in England in at age 9 and then appeared a year later in the West End play The Nerd. His "big break" came in 1987 when he was picked for the role of Jim in Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun. The new-found celebrity status brought some trouble for the 13-year-old. However, he continued acting, next appearing in Henry V and TV roles before taking on several movie projects in row starting in 1992 with the Disney musical Newsies. For this role and his role in the 1993 film Swing Kids Christian trained for 10 weeks in dancing and martial arts.

After this he drew further attention when he won the much-coveted role of Laurie in Little Women, having been hand-picked for the role by Winona Ryder (who was set to play Jo in the film). He has since won roles in notable films such as Velvet Goldmine and the lead in American Psycho. He recently played the title role in Batman Begins, as well as the noble John Rolfe in The New World.

Filmography

The Dark Knight (2008)…Bruce Wayne
I'm Not There (2006)
The Prestige (2006)…Alfred Borden
Rescue Dawn (2006)…Dieter
The New World (2005)…John Rolfe
Harsh Times (2005)…Jim David
Batman Begins (2005)…Bruce Wayne/Batman
Howl's Moving Castle (2004)…Howl
The Machinist (2004)…Trevor Reznik
Equilibrium (2002)…Cleric John Preston
Reign of Fire (2002)…Quinn Abercromby
Laurel Canyon (2002)…Sam
Captain Corelli's Mandolin (2001)…Mandras
Shaft (2000)…Walter Wade, Jr.
American Psycho (2000)…Patrick Bateman
Mary, Mother of Jesus (1999) (TV)…Jesus of Nazareth
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999)… Demetrius
All the Little Animals (1998)…Bobby Platt
Velvet Goldmine (1998)…Arthur Stuart
Metroland (1997)…Chris
The Portrait of a Lady (1996)…Edward Rosier
The Secret Agent (1996)…Stevie
Pocahontas (1995)…Thomas
Little Women (1994)… Laurie
Prince of Jutland (1994)…Amled
Swing Kids (1993)…Thomas Berger
Newsies (1992)…Jack “Cowboy” Kelly
A Murder of Quality (1991) (TV)…Tim Perkins
Treasure Island (1990) (TV)…Jim Hawkins
Henry V (1989)… Falstaff’s Boy
Empire of the Sun (1987)…Jim Graham
Mio in the Land of Faraway (1987)…Jum-Jum
Heart of the Country (1987) (mini)… Ben Harris
Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna (1986) (TV)…Alexei

Info from: Christian Bale - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Current and Upcoming Projects

Christian reprises his role as Batman in The Dark Knight, out in 2008.

Also up next is the Training Day-reminiscent Harsh Times, out September 8th in limited release, as well as the highly anticipated Christopher Nolan movie, The Prestige, starring Christian, Hugh Jackman, and Scarlett Johansson, out October 20th.

Fanforum’s Baleheads:
1. *Shannon*
2. Butterflygirl
3. Crystaline
4. BabyJ
5. -Louise-
6. DreamWalker

If you want to be added, just say so!

**Butterflygirl** · 08-12-2006, 08:41 PM

Add me to the list please!

**Crystaline** · 08-12-2006, 08:42 PM

Nice start, Shannon!

Please add me to the list!

BabyJ · 08-12-2006, 09:57 PM

on the last post of the last thread. Doesn't really matter now, seeing as how that last post was #301, Shannon.

I think it's safe to assume that everyone who regularly posts on this thread might as well be added to the list.

-Louise- · 08-13-2006, 01:49 AM

Add me to the list too please

I just watched the trailer for his new film "Rescue Dawn" and although its not the sort of film I usually go the cinema to see it does look good. Then again I think all the roles Christian takes are in good films

*Shannon* · 08-13-2006, 10:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BabyJ

on the last post of the last thread. Doesn't really matter now, seeing as how that last post was #301, Shannon.

I think it's safe to assume that everyone who regularly posts on this thread might as well be added to the list.

I know I was like "Ehhhh, whatever I'll just start a new thread".

Glad everyone likes the title.

I need to go grab the Funny Pants picture. It's like our thread mascot.

Louise, cool! You're the first person I know who's seen Rescue Dawn. Is it out in limited release right now? Glad you liked it.

S.A.S.H.A. · 08-13-2006, 01:30 PM

New thread!

• BATMAN BEGINS
• 30 icons (mostly Christian Bale)
• 01 info banner

Sasha

**Butterflygirl** · 08-13-2006, 05:44 PM

Those icons are gorgeous

I saw The New World and I liked it. The movie is really different from most movies and the scenes are really beautiful.
I love Christian's character, he was so sweet.

Spoiler:

BabyJ · 08-13-2006, 07:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Butterflygirl

Spoiler:

She's 14!

I'm more jealous of Sibi.

*Shannon* · 08-13-2006, 08:59 PM

Dude I know. There are a lot of female co-stars that I'm jealous of, lol. Like Ele Keats from Newsies. Not only did she get an *amazing* kiss from Christian, but she was on set with like 100 boys for a summer. Gah.

Aww The New World was really beautifully shot.

**Crystaline** · 08-13-2006, 09:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BabyJ

I'm more jealous of Sibi.

You can say that again.

BabyJ · 08-13-2006, 09:11 PM

Random, vague not-so-update on The Dark Knight from a producer:

Quote:

You may not know him by name, but you definitely know his work. Charles "Chuck" Roven served as producer on Batman Begins and he's back on board for the sequel The Dark Knight, which is tentatively due in June 2008.

Superhero Hype! caught up with the industrious producer at the junket for Universal's Idlewild, which he is also a part of, however Roven was pretty tight-lipped about what cast members would be returning, as well as whether Philip Seymour Hoffman would play a role in the upcoming film.

"One of the things that we have always done--we did it with the first 'Batman' movie in which we were involved, 'Batman Begins'" he explained, "[is] we don't comment on any rumors because it takes all the fun away."

Still, he did talk a little about Heath Ledger joining the cast. "We're really thrilled about Heath Ledger playing The Joker. As Chris Nolan said, the great thing about Heath is he commits himself fully and totally to everything he does. He's just a brilliant, brilliant actor and you know this Joker is a very interesting dark fellow."

How so we asked? "You're going to have to wait on that," Roven laughed.

As far as confirming who will be back for the sequel, he did confirm Christian Bale as we already know, but was very vague when it came to anyone else. "We are hoping, depending upon everyone's schedule and other aspects of what it is they want to do with their careers, that we're going to get most if not all of them who are alive back. Meaning "alive in the movie", not really alive… sorry. We're supposed to get them back if we can. The script is in the process of being written. There isn't a screenplay that exists right now, so I can't really tell you much more than that. Certainly Christian Bale is going to play Batman and Bruce Wayne."

"We are supposed to start shooting what we call a preshoot, which we know what that is, in January and then the main body of the movie is going to start in March," he added.

While you may have to wait until 2008 for The Dark Knight, you can check out Roven's latest project Idlewild, which stars Outkast's Big Boi and Andre 3000, on August 25.

I hope it's just most, not all, of the cast that comes back. No offense to the Katie Holmes fans.

*Shannon* · 08-14-2006, 11:59 AM

I read that! I'm so excited. I love that the producers and crew are getting psyched, and the movie hasn't even been shot yet. It'll be a long wait, but bring it on.

So I went to a used bookstore and was browsing the DVDs. I ended up buying Equilibrium and Almost Famous, but I also nearly bought Laurel Canyon. I decided to save that one for later, haha. It came down to "OK, Equilibrium or Laurel Canyon? Which movie did Christian look hotter in?"

I eventually just closed my eyes, shuffled the DVDs behind my back, and picked one. I must've looked like a crazy person in the store.

BabyJ · 08-14-2006, 12:30 PM

Hehe. I love Equilibrium! It's an action movie that actually showcases some acting. And that doesn't happen often.

I like ass-kicking Christian. Especially since we didn't really get to see him kick much in Batman Begins. Plus that Gun-Kata thing's just awesome.

Though I admit the kid that plays the son kinda creeps me out.

I was actually gonna watch either Equilibrium or the second disc of Batman Begins today. But I think I'm gonna watch Memento. Hmmm.

*Shannon* · 08-14-2006, 12:59 PM

Oh movie choices. I love Memento, what a good movie. I may pop in Equilibrium, too. I forget how the commentary is on the movie. I do remember Kurt Wimmer saying that Christian's acting is very precise scene to scene, but Emily Watson's got better and better with each take, and also depended on what she was wearing, certain dresses made for better performances.

Gun-Kata *was* really cool. My dad loved the movie haha.

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Fan Forum > General Discussion > Celebrities > Christian Bale Appreciation #10: Because we prefer him with the Funny Pants off!