According to Christian Bale, the world is facing a shortage of movie stars these days, because Hollywood is going with John Q. Charming instead of bona fide leading men. Of course, he’s fully aware that he’s a part of that breed that he claims is dying, as he told the Wall Street Journal’s Andrew Goldman that charisma is beating out talent for big roles, and it has all led to this sort of ass-kissing culture in which suck-ups like us love to crown guys as A-listers, even if they haven’t really paid their so-called dues.
But that’s one of the things that we sort of love about Bale, that even when he proves that he’s as nice as the next guy, he’s still an unapologetic dick about things. Or maybe he’s not a dick and he’s just brutally honest. Either way, he’s in this acting game for the money (seriously, his family told him to do it because, “We need that money”) and sometimes he even thinks that it’s “the most stupid thing ever.” That’s why when it comes to his A-list peers and world-savers like George Clooney railing against the paparazzi and their cameras, Bale thinks that they should quit yapping and live with it.
AG: Batman & Robin wasn’t a huge financial success, despite the character.
CB: Oh, is that right? I don’t know.
AG: And it had a movie star.
CB: He is; he’s a movie star.
AG: Speaking of George Clooney, I was just seeing all those pictures of him and his new wife being photographed in that boat in Venice, and it occurred to me that I had no idea what your wife, Sibi, looks like.
CB: I feel I should have as much privacy as anyone else.
AG: But I’ve heard Clooney railing about tabloids and privacy too.
CB: I know, but it’s boring, isn’t it? You know what I mean? It doesn’t matter that he talks about it. It’s like, come on, guys, just shut up. Just get on with it and live your lives and stop whining about it. I prefer not to whine about it. (Via the Wall Street Journal)
Bale does complain a little about “frustrated novelists” writing things about him that are “blatantly untrue,” but he also doesn’t seem like he’s the most self-aware person in show business (he didn’t realize he looked sour after losing Best Actor to Matthew McConaughey, nor was he aware that he has a tendency to hang out with “losers”). The entire interview is worth a read, but my favorite part is his response to the question of whether or not he’d work with McG again after giving him a chance on Terminator Salvation:
CB: (Pause) There’s a lot of room for many approaches and many characters within the film industry. I won’t be working with him again, but I wish him very well. Okay?
Damn, I was really hoping Bale would show up on an episode of The Mysteries of Laura.