If the film adaptation ofAmerican Psycho It's a classic, thanks no doubt to Christian Bale's disturbing performance. However, at the beginning of filming, the actor was far from unanimous among the rest of the cast consisting of Chloë Sevigny, Josh Lucas and Reese Witherspoon.
What's worse is that the other actors began to wonder why director Mary Haroun insisted on casting him in the lead role. A wonderful moment of incomprehension that Chloë Sevigny remembers well.
“I tried to respect his way. Which I found difficult because I'm very sociable, stupid and goofy, which the general public doesn't know. When people take themselves too seriously, I shut down,” she said. Vanity gallery.
What Chloë Sevigny and her co-stars didn't know is that Christian Bale was a supporter of the Actors Studio method and therefore stayed in the role outside of filming.
method
“I was really frightened by his operation and it scared him,” Chloe Sevigny continued. I wanted more generosity to make me feel more comfortable, which suits my personality. It was a very empowering dynamic for me, but I don't think I thought it was bad. I was a little lost. I didn't even know what the Actors Studio was. I was not familiar with this approach and it was very scary. »
The turmoil undoubtedly served the film well, as it was necessary to create heightened anxiety and tension in this adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis classic whose protagonist is characterized by a complete lack of empathy.
Worst actor
Finally, if Chloë Sevigny wanted to clarify that she didn't think she found Christian Bale “bad,” that was clearly the opinion of the entire cast at the time. A fact the actor became aware of later, when he met Josh Lucas again for another film.
“He told me that all the other actors thought I was the worst actor they had ever seen,” he said. Film Maker From a few years. “He told me they looked at me and said, 'Why did Mary Aaron fight for this man? He's terrible.'” »
