American Psycho and Christian Bale are inseparable – the chilling grin, the dead eyes behind a flawless business card, and that obsessive monologue about Huey Lewis and the News.
But it turns out the road to his now-iconic role was anything but smooth. In a 2022 interview with GQ, Bale revealed that he was actually fired from the film during pre-production – despite already being handpicked for the role by director Mary Harron.
“I had the book by my side, and I would read through it every single time because Maria Leticia Gomes Brett [Easton Ellis] had just had so many wonderful descriptions,” Bale said, describing how he approached the character.
“I didn’t approach it like she said the other actors had, where they were talking about, ‘What’s his childhood?’ or ‘What’s the reason he’s become this?’ I was like, ah, none of that really matters. He’s just like this alien.”
That shared understanding of Bateman’s bizarre, inhuman quality was what bonded Bale and Harron from the beginning. “As we were doing the scene, I started laughing, and she started cracking up,” he recalled. “We were like, ‘Oh yeah, right – this will work between us.’”
But not everyone was sold. The financiers hated the idea of Bale playing the lead and insisted on a bigger, more bankable star. Leonardo DiCaprio was reportedly courted at one point, along with other Hollywood A-listers. Then, Bale was booted from the project entirely, but he wasn’t ready to let go. “I just said, ‘No. I’m still making the film.’”
Bale kept preparing for the role, even when it seemed hopeless. He continued calling Harron – who tried to gently explain it was over – and turned down other roles (though, as he modestly adds, “this wasn’t like I was getting offered much”).
It was during a stage reading in New York, with actors like Willem Dafoe and Chloë Sevigny present, that the project finally gained traction again, and the money came through. The only problem was that Bale and Harron weren’t in the deal.
“Our agents at the time forgot to include us in the package,” Bale said. “So we raised the money, and then they said, ‘Right, and the two of you – bye-bye.’”
But Bale went, in his words, “a little bit psycho” himself and simply refused to step aside. “Even though other people were cast, other directors were on board, I just kept on prepping.” Eventually, the producers relented, and Bale reclaimed the part he never truly let go of.
Released in 2000, American Psycho became a cult classic, lauded for its razor-sharp satire of ’80s excess and consumerism. Bale’s performance became known as terrifying, absurd, and hilarious all at once.
Today, American Psycho is often hailed as one of the defining performances of Bale’s career, and one of the most layered character studies in modern cinema. Despite being overlooked by the Oscars at the time, the film solidified Bale as a fearless actor willing to risk everything for the right role.
Bale would go on to win an Academy Award for The Fighter in 2011 and gain global recognition as Bruce Wayne in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy. He’s been nominated for four Oscars and consistently praised for his dedication, famously undergoing extreme physical transformations for roles in The Machinist, Vice, and Ford v Ferrari.