Christian Bale is renowned for his dedication to his roles, often undergoing rigorous diets and exercise regimens to fully embody his characters. However, he recently shared that his latest role in “The Bride!” presented a unique challenge, despite not requiring any physical transformation.

In this new film directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, Bale, 52, takes on the role of Frankenstein’s monster, while Jessie Buckley stars as the monster’s bride. Although there was no need for physical alteration, the role demanded Bale to endure a grueling six-hour daily makeup routine.

The actor admitted that the lengthy periods of inactivity during makeup application were difficult for him to endure, nearly driving him to the brink of insanity. To cope with this, Bale would release pent-up frustration by letting out a scream every day on set.

“It was about releasing the despair,” Bale explained, “all the restraint required when you have to sit still for that long.” He added that he avoided screaming while driving to work to prevent accidents and refrained from doing so alone to avoid alarming others with his intense outbursts.

He found being inactive such a struggle that he would have to ‘scream like crazy, every day’ on set, explaining: ‘Just to [release the] despair, all of that restraint that you have to display when you’re sitting still for that long…. 

‘I didn’t want to do it driving into work because I thought I might cause a crash. And I didn’t want to do it by myself because I thought everyone would just think I’m going nuts.’

Christian Bale’s six-hour makeup sessions for The Bride! left him ‘screaming like crazy’ after he reached his breaking point with physical transformations

Christian, 52, plays Frankenstein’s monster in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s new film, which tells the tale of the creation of the monster’s ‘bride’, played by Jessie Buckley 

Christian has adopted dangerous methods to get into character in the past, most notably losing 62lbs in four months in order to play an insomniac factory worker in The Machinist

Christian added to Entertainment Weekly that he enlisted his hair and makeup team to unleash a primal scream with him every day, which he says was a ‘great bonding experience’. 

He continued: ‘Oh man, I’m telling you, the whole crew got involved by the end, because people would hear us screaming.

‘We would open the doors, and gradually, a bit like the Bride’s revolution, a few people were going, “Can we do it too?” And then by the end, there were like 30 people who would hear us and run to the makeup trailer to be a part of it and scream.’

While the lengthy makeup sessions would no doubt prove taxing for many, it’s interesting that Christian found them such a struggle given his history with pushing himself to the limits for his film roles. 

Despite insisting he is not a method actor, Christian has adopted dangerous methods to get into character, most notably losing 62lbs in four months in order to play an insomniac factory worker in The Machinist. 

Christian revealed he slashed the number on the scales from 182lbs to just 121lbs after surviving on 200 calories a day while still exercising, eating just a tin of tuna, an apple and a black coffee a day. 

Christian also smoked cigarettes to help reduce his appetite.

He told GQ: ‘Also, at the time I was engaged in a very filthy habit of smoking. So, I was rolling my own cigarettes and sitting there puffing away.’

It’s interesting that Christian found his makeup sessions such a struggle given his history with pushing himself to the limits for his film roles (pictured at his natural weight in 2024) 

After his weight plummeted for The Machinist, the actor swiftly bulked up again in just six weeks to play the Caped Crusader in Batman Begins by gorging on pizza and ice cream

Two years later he was required to drop the weight for his role as a recovering drug addict in The Fighter so he took up running (pictured in the film with Mark Wahlberg) 

Interestingly, the radical transformation wasn’t meant to be in the film but the writer, who was only 5’6′ compared to Christian’s 6′ stature, had written his own weight into the script. 

Christian’s co-star Michael Ironside, revealed that the actor said not to change the weights because he wanted to see if he could actually make them. 

He explained: ‘So those weights he writes on the bathroom wall in the film are his actual weights in the film.’

After his weight had plummeted, the actor swiftly bulked up again in just six weeks to play the Caped Crusader in Batman Begins by gorging on pizza and ice cream.

He said: ‘I overdid it because I was enjoying gorging. I was ignoring advice about taking it slowly because my stomach had shrunk, and I should just go with soups.

‘I was straight into pizza and ice-cream and eating five meals in a sitting. My stomach expanded really quickly. I got very sick during that time but I enjoyed getting sick. I didn’t mind it at all.

‘In that short amount of time I did actually go from 121lbs right back up to 180lbs which is way too fast so that resulted in some doctor visits to get things sorted out.’

Three years later he returned to his Batman role for the sequel, requiring him to get in shape again. 

In 2013 he played a conman in American Hustle and gorged on junk food to gain 43lbs. He also shaved his head in order to effectively portray a balding man who glues on a toupee 

He didn’t have long to get in shape before his role as Moses in Ridley Scott’s Exodus: Gods And Kings. So Christian had to hit the gym hard (pictured with Joel Edgerton)

After plateauing for a few years, Christian gained weight again for his role in the 2018 film Vice, adding 40lbs to his frame to play the 46th US Vice President Dick Cheney

Speaking to Train Magazine about exercising for the role, Christian mused: ‘Batman relies on speed and strategy. Diet-wise I would eat smaller meals every two or three hours. 

‘Each meal I would aim for a balance of lean proteins, carbs and good, healthy fat. Pretty much every meal would have that mix. I’d also try to eat a lot of vegetables, drink good old H2O and more low-calorie fruits.’

Two years later he was required to drop the weight for his role as a recovering drug addict in The Fighter so he took up running. 

‘I was just running like crazy,’ Christian recalled. ‘I could just run for hours on end and I felt really healthy.’

In 2013 he played an out of shape conman in American Hustle and gorged on junk food to gain 43lbs.   

‘I ate lots of doughnuts, a whole lot of cheeseburgers and whatever I could get my hands on,’ he told People. ‘I literally ate anything that came my way. I was about 185 and went up to 228. I’m still working it off.’

Christian also shaved his head in order to effectively portray a balding man who glues and hairsprays a toupee onto his head.

He didn’t have long to get in shape before his next role as Moses in Ridley Scott’s Exodus: Gods And Kings.

In order to tackle the role of the muscular serial killer Patrick Bateman in 2000’s American Psycho, Christian went on an all-lean protein diet with ‘no cheat meals or sugar’ 

It’s reported that Christian had planned to be really skinny and scrawny for 2002’s Reign Of Fire but changed his mind when he saw how bulked up his co-star Matthew McConaughey was

While he looked slim in 2006’s Rescue Dawn, Christian said he ‘didn’t lose a whole lot of weight’, explaining ‘there’s a lot of good make-up’

So Christian had to hit the gym hard, taking on cardio exercises like swimming and running, and power-lifting activities. 

After plateauing for a few years, Christian gained weight again for his role in the 2018 film Vice, adding 40lbs to his frame to play the 46th US Vice President Dick Cheney.

‘I’ve just been eating a lot of pies,’ he explained.  

In recent years he hasn’t take on as many extreme roles, having confessed in 2019 that he can no longer keep transforming his body the way he had previously.

‘I just can’t keep doing it. I really can’t,’ he told GQ. ‘My mortality is staring me in the face.

‘I’ve become a little bit more boring now, because I’m older and I feel like if I keep doing what I’ve done in the past, I’m going to die. So, I’d prefer not to die.’