Feb. 2011 UK Empire Magazine. Thanks to Pam & Ferd

感謝 Baleheads 的 Ferd & Pam，提供了英國雜誌 Empire 的掃描圖片檔。這段訪談算是比較綜合的訪談，並不針對 The Fighter 而已。或許是因為 Bale 畢竟是個英國人，Empire 一直都很關注他。這段訪談不像 Esquire 記者那樣充滿著殺氣，比較溫和一點。我將整段訪談打成 Text 文字檔。有興趣的到 Read More 讀喔。練英文練英文，雖然之後我也會翻譯。

照片並不是新的，是去年 Empire Magazine 拍的幾張中的一張。

對了，內文是英式英文，所以有些單字是以英式拼法出現，大家請自行切換。


Empire 2011/Feb (UK)

Somebody wrote about my "trademark weight loss", I'd just like to piss on that guy's shoes.

Not many teen stars enjoy a career like Christian Bale's. He was just 13 when Spielberg cast him in world war II epic "Empire of the Sun", and he could easily have ended up in rehab or, worse, on I'm a Celebrity... like his co-star Nigel Havers.

Instead, Bale went on to work in the real jungle with Werner Herzog, in Gotham with Christopher Nolan and in the boxing ring with David O. Russell in this month's Oscar-buzzed The Fighter, in which, as crack-added former welterweight Dickie Eklund, he arguably delivers a career-best performance.

Born in Wales in 1974, to an entrepreneurial father and a mother who'd performed as a circus clown, Bale had a nomadic childhood - living in place as diverse as Portugal, America, Bournemouth and Henley. It prepared him for a life lived on movie sets, where friends are made a fast and lost even faster.

An ability to adapt has made him an in-demand talent - he's also intensely focused, known for keeping accents between takes and, of course, one notorious, net-leaked on-set freak out (on 2009s Terminator Salvation). Despite an apology, the spat created a somewhat skewed public perception of Bale, overshadowing his onscreen achievements. Thankfully not permanently. He's too good for that.

Bale's dedication to roles has extended to extreme physical transformative, the actor shedding a sometimes dangerous amount of weight; first for disturbing mystery The Machinist, then for true-life Vietnam POW drama Rescue Dawn, and again for his astonishing work in The Fighter.

Empire sent Tony Horkins to interview Bale at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills. "You never quite know which Christian Bale you're going to get when you meet him," says Horkins. "Sometimes he's talking in an American accent, sometimes he's this intense Method man... On the day we met, I got the chirpy Brit, Mr. Regular Guy, keen to play down his A-list Hollywood status and position as one of the world's hardest-working actors. This was supported by his look: casual in combat trousers and a black shirt, with his hair long and unkempt and match with a pirate bears. Still look like a movie star though..."

Empire: So, what's with the Captain Jack's stand-in look?

Bale: This is unemployment. I shaved my head when I finished The Fighter to get in all level with the bald patches. This is what I look like when I'm not working.

Empire: It was a rather vanity-free performance.

Bale: Well, vanity didn't really have any place, did it? It was great to do because I had the real guy to hand out with. He liked that I was playing him, so we had a great time. I got to go to all his old haunts and bars in Lowell. Massachusetts - including the crack houses. We filmed in a lot of those places. Then he came to LA and we were just hanging out and training together for three or four weeks, and just slowly, like a frog not knowing it's getting cooked in a pot, I gradually sort of became Dickie. It was a good one.

Empire: Dickie was a crackhead who destroyed his own life and nearly took his brother down with him. What did you like about him?

Bale: He's a one-in-a-million character, and it was great living hi his shoes for a while. He's got multiple layers, and there are conflicts and confusion about him. You see it on paper and say you don't like fella, but you meet him and go, "Oh my God, I want to have another drink with this guy." It was fascinating seeing someone with so much potential who was not able to recognise that, squandered it, went way over the edge in his life, and came back from it laughing his arse off.

Empire: How was it playing someone real, who was even on set with you?

Bale: I loved it with this - maybe I'd find with something else it's not so helpful. But with this, believe me: he's like the mayor of the streets of Lowell. He could have made it very tricky for us to shoot there.

Empire: It was filmed in a very brisk 33 days. Do you prefer that kind of schedule?

Bale: I like working at that speed. We have more prep time than actual filming time, and for this one it just snowballed. There was a lot of momentum - Dickie just never stops, he just keeps on movie forward, even if it's the wrong thing to do. I felt that it was good for that to be reflected in the way we shot the movie.

Empire: How'd that shoot go? You and director David O. Russell are known for being rather shall we say... 'passionate' on set.

Bale: I think a lot of people had some strange notion about David and Mark (Wahlberg) and me as a combination being quite fiery, but it couldn't have been better. Everyone would have been so disappointed to see how well we got along. There wasn't a bad word. Yeah, we'd get into it, but into what we were doing. As it is with any director I've enjoyed a good relationship with, you break the ice and don't worry about whether you're sensitive about saying this and that or disagreeing about something. Ultimately, the director has the last say - how dull would it be if you didn't? And David is actually one of the silliest people you'll ever meet, and on of the smartest and most serious, too. It's a great combination, especially with these characters.

Empire: How'd you enjoy working with Mark?

Bale: Great. I think he cared about this movie more than any movie he's ever done. Obviously it was a story that, him being local to the area and knowing Micky (Ward, welterweight champ and Dickie's half-brother), was personal to him. He was training all the time and he had a boxing ring built in his house. We'd go round there and train. The guy was seriously committed.

Empire: From the look of your performance, you were pretty committed, too. You've a reputation for staying in character while filming - is that actually true?

Bale: Some people say I'm in character all the time. I never say that. I just do what feels right. Sometimes I have a tendency to do the voice all the time because I'm not so good at jumping in and out. That makes some people go, "Oh, he's in character." But I'm not sure I am really. I've had no training, I'm not Method or whatever, so I just do whatever feels right.

Empire: Did you have any concern at all about being "the guy that loses weight" again?

Bale: To be honest, I find it laughable that it's considered some fucking gimmick - it's so patronising. For God's sake, do people not understand what a pain it is to do? It's as thought it's some comment about, "Oh, it's easy for him because he's done it a bunch of times" It's not easy, it's not fun - it's horrible. I would never pick to do that, but it's a part that I like and he's a welterweight and he's a crackhead. I don't know about you, but I've never seen a welterweight with any fat on him - or a crackhead. So it's just what you end up having to do. Somebody told me that somebody wrote something about my "trademark weight loss". I'd just like to piss on that guy's shoes.

Empire: From the movie, it looks like you could take him out in the ring instead. Are you a bit handy as a boxer now?

Bale: A bit handy against amateur like myself, but you get in the ring with a pro like Micky or Dickie and you relise you limitations. To start off with I was just hitting them, or hitting the mitts at least, and going for three minutes doing that: that kills you, that feels like you're going to have a heart attach. Then having them hit you back, you realise, "I've got no place being in this ring. What am I doing there? I've got to get out really quickly." Never again will I watch the TV going, "Hit him! What are you doing?" and thinking, "Why are they looking so bloody tired?" The fitness level, the skill level, then ultimately the mind games they are playing is admirable.

Empire: There's been much Oscar talk... At this point, do you even care?

Bale: I care - it's great. I am human, it's wonderful the movie's getting attention. It's already got more attention than I thought it'd get. People have been really complimentary.

Empire: What's more important to you at this stage: the acknowledgement of your peers or audience numbers?

Bale: (Long, long puase)Ummmm.... Errrrr... Neither, really, just the experience of doing it. That's the only thing I've got any kind of control over, and even that is limited. The actual process of making it is what it's about; you've got the one movie in the script version, the movie that's made on the set and a whole other movie made in the editing room - which you've got on control over as an actor. You just have to accept it. Is it going to be a good movie or not? That's not in your hands, so that other stuff has to be gravy. Otherwise you're going to be eternally disappointed when the movie isn't quite what you thought it was going to be or nobody wants to see it or thinks it's good. It doesn't take away from what you got out of shooting it. It's wonderful when people like it. Like I say, I am human - I love it when people like my work and it actually gets seen. But it is out of my hands. so the kick has be about the actual making of it. It has to be.

Empire: You've had commercial success and failure. How did you feel when The Dark Knight became a phenomenon?

Bale: Amazed, you know? The fact that it became a real cultural phenomenon is just bizarre. Maybe some people plan on things like that, but for me I'm not always surprised by it. I never tend to consider what people are going to think about a movie when I'm shooting. I'm just thinking, "We are going to do the best we can."

Empire: Why do you think people connected with it so much?

Bale: No idea. I really can't see the wood for the trees with movies I do. Plus, it doesn't really interest me to try and figure that out. We didn't sit down and figure that out beforehand. It just happened. I think if you did sit down and try and figure it out - "Let's try and make a movie that connect with people on a massive level and is a phenomenon for a decade" - we'd balls it up. I think there's always a certain element of "It happened... We're not quite sure how, but it did. "Of course, someone like Chris Nolan is more of a game player than someone like myself: I don't know if he'd consider that, but for me, no. I never think about that at all.

Empire: Does it put any pressure on you going into The Dark Knight Rises?

Bale: I don't feel any pressure. None. All I know is the likelihood that this will be the last one.

Empire: Definitely?

Bale: Well, I wouldn't say definitely. If Chris goes, "Hey, I've another story I think could be interesting," then yea, great, I'd go do that I always assumed it would be three, but I could be wrong. I don't know if there's something wrong with me, but I don't feel any pressure.

Empire: Have you enjoyed having the chance to revisit a character?

Bale: Yeah. I really have. Plus it's good knowing you've got work! (Laughs) And it managed to be a great movie that's also a big commercial/action movie. I tried it with a couple of others in the parts that didn't work, but I always wondered, "Why can't these movies be so much better? Why is it that because you've got a few explosions and effects, it can't have a great story?" I think Chris has really answered that in a fantastic way.

Empire: How was it working on a smaller project with Chris, The Prestige?

Bale: It was good. We all knew each other well, but it was great just having a smaller crew. It's like having a speedboat that's spinning around really quickly and going, "That's not working, let's do this instead." Batman is like a huge bloody cargo ship: when everything has to turn around there are hundreds of people behind you that have to get lined up as well.

Empire: Any sequel snippets you can let slip? Megan Fox as Catwoman? Being shot in IMAX? Multiple villains?

Bale: If I told you, a bullet would come flying through that window and take me out. Plus I kind of like this mystery that Chris has about all the movies - I'm quite happy to play ball with that. But you'd be quite surprised to know how little I know. I've chatted to Chris and he's going to tell me when he thinks I need to know - he knows how much time I need ahead of time.

Empire: While you were together, did he tell you what Inception was about?

Bale: (Laughs) I didn't ask! Whenever people as me about my own movies I always think: "It doesn't matter what I think, it's whatever you think. Right or wrong, it's your interpretation of it and that's the end of it." Having said that, I did ask him one question, but I'm not going to tell you what it was. Sorry to be a tease.

Empire: Inception's Tom Hardy is joining you for Batman 3 - looking forward to that?

Bale: Yeah. He seems like he's ball-out, doesn't he? Like he really goes for it. I've not met him yet, but I liked him in Inception, and in Bronson. He looked like a guy that was happy to go to extremes, to really push it. Looks like he could go the distance...

Empire: Talking of which, did you have any idea when you were kind of filming Empire Of The Sun that this could be a career?

Bale: No. Not at all. All I remember is running about in Spain, planes, lots of people in Shanghai, seeing ducks having their throats slit on the street... And being by myself away from my parents for a long time, and having a blast and goofing off in different countries. It was very enjoyable. But no - no concept of this being something I would keep doing.

Empire: Any awareness that you were working with 'Steven Spielberg'?

Bale: No. I couldn't give a crap at the time. Ignorance is bliss - I think there's something good to that, even as you get older. Keeping yourself in the dark to some degree helps avoid comparison and self-consciousness. Sure I knew he was a director, but did it matter to me? No.

Empire: Kept in touch?

Bale: Yeah- just got a note from him last week. I haven't seen him in a couple of years, but we trade message through mutual friends.

Empire: What sort of note does one get from Steven Spielberg?

Bale: Ha! A nice friendly one. You know...

Empire: What was it like being a famous teen?

Bale: Didn't like that. That wasn't for me at all. Some people can deal with it, but I found it to be a complete pain in the arse and embarrassing. Also, there was the annoying notion of everyone going, "Ah, you should know better," when I was done for shoplifting. But, no, I shouldn't have known better. There was no reason I should. I could have done without that side of things. It was nice to go travelling and have those experience, but look, if anyone in my family - my nieces or my daughter - wanted to start at that age, I'd absolutely believe in and support their dreams, but I would tell them, "No bloody way - not professionally."

Empire: Why? The business has ultimately been pretty kind to you.

Bale: Yeah, but only after a long time working through things. Look, I'm not whinging about it - I wouldn't be doing something I really like doing were it not for that - but it's just too young. You need to be anonymous at that age, you need to go and get into all sorts of trouble and not have anyone know who you are. It's ruined when everyone knows who you are: "Bugger, I'm the only one who's gettting caught."

Empire: How do you think you managed to avoid the full River Phoenix-style meltdown?

Bale: Because I didn't want anything to do with it, that's why. I really stayed away - I actually said, "I don't even like doing this anymore." Then a couple of things came up that sounded fun. But I was very much about not wanting to be front and centre. That wasn't the place for me. It's still not. I know that this sounds funny being an actor, but I don't like being the central of attention. I just like hanging on the sidelines.

Empire: Strange line of work to go into then...

Bale: Not really.

Empire: Because you're always hiding behind a character?

Bale: Well, not hiding a character, but communicating through a different character. I'm not hiding - it's more of an interest in people other than myself. I know myself - it's other people I want to find out about.

Empire: Is it true Kenneth Branagh talked you out of early retirement while filming Henry V?

Bale: No... There were different influences, and I had different responsibilities that came with making money. That became a little trickier.

Empire: Even at the age you had financial responsibilities?

Bale: Yeah - it became tricky to quit. I didn't need the money, but.. you know... it helped out.

Empire: Since then it's become clear it's not just about making money for you. For every Batman, you're up to your eyes in dire and seat on something like Rescue Dawn. How was it working in the jungle with famed nutter Werner Herzog?

Bale: Werner's a nutter in the best sense: a world without him would be very boring. He's Jekyll and Hyde, and I hope we'll work together again. I was finding it tricky imagining what it would be like working in any kind of civilised surroundings with him - I think the jungle was the place for it, and I liked his company a great deal.

Empire: Was it as chaotic to film as reported?

Bale: There were people threatened with 10 year of jail time, crews quitting constantly and us having to find mopeds to get to work. Werner never read the script and was winging it every day, jumping in vans and trying to get away from everybody so we could shoot with just me, Steven (Zahn) and the cinematographer. It was a lot of fun and japes, like Carry On In Tailand.

Empire: Herzog says you are "the best of you generation". Which of you contemporaries do you admire?

Bale: I admire anybody who's willing to get up in front of the camera and make a total tit out of themselves. I really do. Not many people can do that. There are a lot of people who can criticise and point fingers and say it wasn't good, but get there and actually give it a shot yourself. That I admire greatly. It's always a find line between total humiliation and really fucking great.

Empire: Is that what went wrong with Terminator?

Bale: It's too early for me to go into that. Also, we're just making movies - I don't like getting into naming names. I don't know... I've not been able to stand back enough from that one.

Empire: Would you do another Terminator?

Bale: Um... I... I really like them, I really do. But... it could only be if every element was correct and in place and with a mutual understanding. Without that - no.

Empire: Did you like the finished movie?

Bale: Um... It's still too early. It's... er... for me it's like kissing and telling.

Empire: You mentioned you'd attempted some actioners that you think didn't work. One of them was Reign of Fire - Not a hit, but did it prepare you for you current blockbusters?

Bale: It probably did in some way, but I've got so little self-analysis and insight, I'm not really able to articulate that. But, no double, I did learn an awful lot that unconsciously I was able to put into Batman, mainly through witnessing what happened and know the things that weren't right. But Chris has it covered: he won't tolerate going into a movie where there is that possibility. If there is a clear problem he clears it up and then he gets moving. Unfortunately, a lot of people talk themselves into tolerating things and they think they'll work themselves out without relising them massive workload that you've got once the ball's started rolling. Those things get neglected and they never get answered. Unless you've got someone like Chris or Michael Mann - they just don't sleep, and they'll work around movies and different style of acting. The luxury of being able to choose, which I have right now, that can all change.

Empire: You've certainly explored multiple styles and genre. How did you enjoy your Western experience on 3:10 to Yuma?

Bale: Man, I wish more of those were made. It was a great experience, and I got along with Russell (Crowe) so well. The funny thing was, James Mangold (the director) always hated it when we had any gunfights.

Empire: Isn't that rather an essential component of the Western?

Bale: It really is, isn't it? That's what I said. But for him it all comes from that one hotel room scene; that's one he loved. But I got into it, and would like, "With this gun you only get this certain amount of bullets, so I need to pick up his gun..." and Jim would look at me and go, "For fuck's sake, Christian, please can you just figure that out yourself -- I'm not interested."

Empire: What's still interesting for you to tackle as a role?

Bale: Little Lord Fauntleroy.

Empire: Really. Anything apart from that?

Bale: Ha! You look very dissatisfied with that. I'll have to get back to you.