Christian Bale, who famously played Bruce Wayne/Batman in Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, was actually afraid that he would be forced to keep playing the character. While many fans may now naturally associate Bale with the role of Batman, it turns out the actor himself wasn't quite as fond of it as the audiences were.
That's not to say he hated playing Batman or anything. He even recently said he might play Batman again if Nolan convinced him. But it also wouldn't have been his first choice. According to his own words, Bale didn't exactly seek out this particular career. His success over the years feels almost accidental to him, and the roles he gets are often the exact opposite of the ones he'd prefer. Even so, he's always given it his all, even if he sometimes wishes he had a solid exit strategy.
Speaking with GQ, Bale spoke at length about his career and his unexpected fame. In particular, he brought up how his role in Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy ended at the right time, and how he was afraid he'd be stuck in the role forever if it didn't. However, there also would have been a silver lining from his perspective. "I loved that because I was like, 'This could be it. I could never be anything but that.' And for a lot of people, I won't," Bale explained. "I was like, ‘Ah, maybe I'm going to be forced to go do something different.' And maybe this ****ing thing [acting] that I got forced into doing as a kid that I didn't ****ing want to do in the first place, I'm out. And I'm free. And then it didn't happen."
As morbid as Bale's perspective seems here, looking for an excuse to quit acting, it makes sense considering how his career (as successful as it is) didn't turn out how he'd have preferred. In fact, he doesn't even like playing leading roles due to how much more rigid they are in terms of how he's allowed to play them. Perhaps that's why he appeared to enjoy hamming it up so much as Gorr the God Butcher in Thor: Love and Thunder. "I've never considered myself a leading man," Bale continued. "It's just boring. You don't get the good parts. Even if I play a lead, I pretend I'm playing like, you know, the fourth, fifth character down, because you get more freedom. I also don't really think about the overall effect that [a character's] going to have. It's for me to play around, much like animals and children do. Have tunnel vision about what you're doing, not think about the effect you're having."
It's oddly understandable that even a massive star like Bale might not be particularly pleased with how his career has turned out. Fame is one thing, but success looks different for everybody. While being known as a big-time Hollywood star might be one person's ultimate goal, for someone like Bale, it could just as easily be a fluke that gets in the way of what he actually wants to do.
His outlook certainly seems unusual, but it could also be a bit of a cautionary tale for anyone wishing for the fame and fortune that come with such a career. Sure, financial success is particularly enticing. But if that success is maintained entirely by doing something one doesn't particularly enjoy, maybe it's not worth dedicating decades of life to it.
The Dark Knight trilogy is available on HBO Max.
Source: GQ