Christian Bale is a once in a generation actor who has inhabited a wide range of characters ranging from killers, drug addicts, the mentally ill, and of course superheroes.
Bale’s reputation for the physical extremes he undergoes in order to portray his roles is matched by an emotional intensity with which he inhabits his characters, particular those morally complex characters who walk that tightrope between right and wrong, good and bad.
Here are Christian Bale’s most morally complex characters he has portrayed on screen so far.
Dan Evans (3:10 to Yuma, 2007)
In this 2007 remake of classic western 3:10 to Yuma, Christian Bale stars as Dan Evans, a struggling rancher and Civil War veteran who agrees to transport captured outlaw Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) to the town of Contention where he is to board a train to prison.
Bale plays the role of the equally pitiful and heroic rancher, who seeks the respect of his family and redemption amongst his peers, with a powerful restraint that compliments Crowe’s intense ferocity. Throughout the film the audience is not sure where Evans’ allegiance will fall as he slowly becomes ensnared in Wade’s psychological traps, resulting in a moral battle within himself as he is continuously tempted by a gunslinging devil who can kill without hesitation.
Gorr the God Butcher (Thor: Love and Thunder, 2022)
Bale’s turn as Gorr the God Butcher in Thor: Love and Thunder is one that makes an impression, with the supervillains purpose in life to kill gods, which eventually leads to a clash with Thor (Chris Hemsworth.)
Gorr, however, is also a sympatheitc character, with the death of his daughter during the films opening scenes setting the stage for a revenge plot in which a father emboldened with the power of a mysterious and powerful sword vows to destroy all gods with extreme prejudice.
Menacing in look and presence, Gorr the God Butcher is an equally entertaining, sad, and scary character that Bale portrays with his trademark intensity.
Dick Cheney (Vice, 2018)
In Adam McKay’s Vice, Bale plays Vice President Dick Cheney, easily one of the most despised politicians of recent history. Like any person of stature, however, there are layers and nuances to Cheney, with Bale portraying the cunning and the manipulation of Cheney the politician, while also exploring the loving nature of Cheney the husband and father.
Bale famously gained more than 40 lbs and shaved his head for the role. The result is magical and also unsettling. Bale plays Cheney as a man that longs for power and will step on anyone or anything that gets in his way to get there. There is also a humanity to the performance as well, especially in regards to Cheney’s loving relationship with his daughter Mary (Allison Pill) who came out as gay while in high school.
Bale received an Oscar nomination for his performance in Vice and even caught the attention of Cheney himself, who expressed his discontent at the portrayal.
Trevor Reznik (The Machinist, 2004)
When it comes to psychological thriller The Machinist, many have commented on the extreme lengths Bale undertook to portray an emaciated man struggling with insomnia and paranoia, losing 62 pounds for the role and shocking audiences with the end result. Yet his turn as Trevor Reznik is also one of extreme moral complexity, with the sins of his past manifesting itself in a physcial and mental state that is teetering on the edge of destruction.
Indeed, Bale’s commitment to his roles are a thing of legend, yet so to is his willingness to delve into characters that are found on the dark end of the human spectrum. In the case of Trevor, here is a man who is living a waking nightmare, haunted by the guilt of the past that has manifested into the horrors of the present, resulting in an equally sympathetic, repulsive, and pitiful creature who cannot forgive himself.
Irving Rosenfield (American Hustle, 2013)
As grifter Irving Rosenfeld, an unrecognisable Bale perhaps plays the most sympathetic con-man to grace the silver screen, a man who is very much a criminal yet who lives by an honourable street wise constitution that makes him an endearing character.
Looseley based on true events, the David O. Russell directed American Hustle stars Bale as Rosenfeld, a brilliant con-artist who along with his grifter partner and soul mate Sydney (Amy Adams) are caught and coerced by the FBI to catch crooked politicians in a large scale operation that proves to be unethical in nature.
Bale, 40 pounds overweight and with a comb over that is a masterpiece of bad taste, mesmerizes in the role of Rosenfeld, with the scuzzy yet honourable character trying to stay one step ahead of the feds while doing his best to contain the carnage.
