"I think," says Nolan, "that very often identity is reduced in films to simple, broad strokes. And so to get an actor to try and represent a more layered character, a more realistic psychology, you need an actor like Christian with acting layers. He can act on different levels at the same time."
One person nobody wants Bale to confuse himself with is the tormented Jim of Ayer's "Harsh Times." Taking on the role of a covertly brainy but thuggish and sporadically psychotic Iraq war vet, Bale worked tirelessly -- and for scale -- on the 24-day, low-budget shoot.
From the time Bale signed on after discussing the role ("Slamming Bloody Marys at the Chateau Marmont," recalls Ayer), he stayed onboard as the film struggled to raise its $1.4 million budget. "He never wavered," says Ayer. "Maybe he identified with the disconnectedness of the character -- Jim is somebody who doesn't really have his own identity but sort of becomes who he needs to be for any given situation, which is kind of the lot of an actor. Christian is almost shy about what he does, very intellectual, methodical, plodding and obviously very, very immersive. Once he's dialed in on the character, he doesn't really break character."
As chance would dictate, he's being asked about how that affects his family life when his pretty, engaging but seemingly somewhat shy wife, Sibi, wanders in to accompany him to his last appointment of the day. They have a 19-month-old daughter back home in Santa Monica.
One can't resist asking how she felt about her husband following the nearly catastrophic weight loss for "The Machinist" with the snake-eating, rapids-running, maggot-ingesting adventure of "Rescue Dawn." She shrugs, grinning with perhaps a small exertion: "That's what he does." Bale smiles down at his hands for a moment before he concludes: "I enjoy obsession. It makes you feel alive when you've got something that you're generally obsessed with and something to really fixate on. But I believe I've been able to maintain a kind of sense of humor with it, you know? An enjoyable playing with it, so that it hasn't really -- I hope -- affected any of my family in a negative way whatsoever."
One can't really see, in the dark garden bar, if he's got that Celtic flush going. But there's obvious zeal in Bale's eyes as, recalling the decision to jeopardize his health for "The Machinist," he adds, "It was the right time for wishing to make a commitment like that -- in a way it was kind of a matter of rekindling belief in what I did. My interest for acting tends not to be purely just for the sake of movies. It tends to be about human nature and I can also test my own nature within that. With the magicians in 'The Prestige,' you really see that this is actually a devotion -- to personally commit to magic. That's an emotion which I admire greatly. I always like people who have obsessions."
