There are actors that take their bodies to the limit when it comes time to prepare for a role. Some of them rely heavily on makeup and a prostheses to pull off the look of a character, while others tend to go a little bit more extreme. Christian Bale is the type of actor that will actually redefine the role and use his own body to do it. He’s been known to change for other roles as well, such as [easyazon_link identifier=”B000IZ6FLK” locale=”US” tag=”tvovermind00a-20″]The Machinist[/easyazon_link] and [easyazon_link identifier=”B00GMV8LIO” locale=”US” tag=”tvovermind00a-20″]American Hustle[/easyazon_link]. It’s been a little hard to recognize him at first in such roles but when you take a good look you’ll realize that Bale is in fact changing his form back and forth between movies to flesh out the roles and make them more believable. It might seem a little grotesque at times but to be quite honest it does show a lot dedication if not an overabundance of common sense.
That’s the dedication of the actor however, and the willingness he has to make sure it looks real enough. These days he’s getting ready to play Dick Cheney, former VP to George W. Bush. There’s no word yet on when the biopic will come out but Bale has already started taking his part quite seriously as you can see from these pictures.
He’s looking a little heavier, a little slower perhaps, but it’s still obviously Bale as he gets ready for his role. On one hand you can’t help but admire the man for his dedication but on the other you have to wonder just how badly this back and forth weight gain and weight loss is affecting his health. It’s more than a little obvious that he has people looking out for him but the fact remains that this kind of weight gain can’t be great for the body. The up and down rollercoaster that his metabolism must be undergoing is a dangerous effect that could eventually ruin him later on down the line even if he’s being careful. The human body can only take so much after all
The great thing is that his dedication to the part and his craft is absolute. He has no trouble changing his body for a role and will do what it takes to get it done. That kind of work ethic is becoming rare in a time when CGI is clearly favored by so many and the role of acting is continually changing. But once again on the down side the use of CGI could possibly preserve an actor’s health so that they aren’t risking everything for the sake of few key roles. Bale and a few others are unique among the acting community in that they will sacrifice their health to pull off a role with as much accuracy as possible, but it is worth worrying over.
Sometimes the brightest star shine fiercely and burn out the quickest, but we would at least like to fully enjoy those stars for as long as possible. To date Bale has altered his appearance in such a way more than a few times. It would seem that he knows what he’s doing, so let’s enjoy his dedication and respect his determination.
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