Christian Bale Has Undergone Another Massive Body Transformation for ‘Ford vs. Ferrari’
Some actors train endlessly to pull off their own death-defying stunts. Others undergo body transformations. Christian Bale is in that latter camp, a guy who’s famously lost and gained large amounts of weight about a bajillion times now. And he isn’t stopping anytime soon.
Bale most recently transformed his body for Adam McKay’s (still untitled but probably called Backseat) Dick Cheney biopic. He gained 40 pounds to play the former U.S. Vice President, essentially making it impossible to tell him apart from the real Cheney. But if you thought that was the end, you don’t know Bale. Now he’s lost weight for James Mangold’s Ford v. Ferrari.
The first set photos of the 44-year-old actor filming the period racing drama arrived online via The Daily Mail last week and garnered more attention today on Reddit. Here’s a look at the difference between his Cheney and his latest role on the right:
Again, Cheney:
And race car driver:
I’m seriously starting to believe Bale has a real-life Prestige twin he keeps hidden somewhere and recruits to play his skinnier roles. There’s no way this man is still alive and healthy, right? Has he discovered the secret to speedy weight loss?
Let’s do a quick refresh on the long history of Christian Bale’s insane weight loss/gain journey. First the beefy Bale we knew in American Psycho and Equilibrium dropped down to an alarming 120 pounds for The Machinist by eating an apple a day (please don’t try this at home). Six months later he gained 100 pounds to play Batman. Then he lost a lil weight for Werner Herzog’s Rescue Dawn, bulked back up for The Dark Knight, lost more weight for The Fighter, gained more for The Dark Knight Rises. We’re not done yet! Bale then dropped down for Out of the Furnace, gained a potbelly for American Hustle, and afterward maintained an “average” weight that didn’t fluctuate much until starting all over again to play Cheney.
The interesting thing is, for a moment there it looked like Bale was calling it quits on this whole insane-and-definitely-not-healthy transformation thing. Back in 2016, Bale actually dropped out of Michael Mann’s Enzo Ferrari biopic because of the weight gain demands for the role, citing them as a “health concern.” Apparently he ditched whatever smart doctor was monitoring his health, or maybe he just preferred to risk his life for Mangold’s movie instead. In Ford v. Ferrari, Bale is playing British driver Ken Miles, opposite Matt Damon as automotive designer and driver Carroll Shelby. Seriously though, I’m worried about this guy. Can he just chill for a minute and eat a healthy meal?