- Christian Bale says Leonardo DiCaprio is Hollywood’s first-choice actor in any film.
- For example, the actor said the creators of “American Psycho” originally wanted DiCaprio to star.
- “To this day, any role that anybody gets, it’s only because he’s passed on it,” Bale told.
Christian Bale said everyone in Hollywood “owes” their career to Leonardo DiCaprio saying no to movies they’ve starred in.
Although the British actor has long-cemented himself a place in Hollywood, having starred in an array of films since his childhood like Steven Spielberg’s “Empire of the Sun,” Disney’s “Newsies,” and the 2008-2012 Batman trilogy, competition for roles still exists.
During an interview for GQ’s November 2022 issue, Bale was asked about reports he lost out on five movie roles in the 1990s, including the role of Jack in “Titanic,” to DiCaprio. He responded by saying that the only reason he and any other actor in Hollywood get to star in the films is that DiCaprio has said no to the projects first.
“It’s not just me. Look, to this day, any role that anybody gets, it’s only because he’s passed on it beforehand,” Bale, 48, said. “It doesn’t matter what anyone tells you. It doesn’t matter how friendly you are with the directors. All those people that I’ve worked with multiple times, they all offered every one of those roles to him first.
“I would suspect that almost everybody of similar age to him in Hollywood owes their careers to him passing on whatever project it is,” Bale said.
“So, thank you, Leo, because literally, he gets to choose everything he does,” he added. “And good for him, he’s phenomenal.”
“American Psycho,” for which Bale received critical acclaim for his portrayal of the leading character Patrick Bateman, was one movie that DiCaprio could have had. Initially, Lionsgate wanted DiCaprio to play the lead role, Vice reported.
Speaking to GQ, Bale said he was consequently paid the “absolute minimum” legally allowed to star in the film.
“Nobody wanted me to do it except the director,” Bale explained. “So they said they would only make it if they could pay me that amount. I was prepping for it when other people were playing the part. I was still prepping for it.”
But Bale doesn’t appear to have any bad blood about losing out on movie roles to DiCaprio.
“Do you know how grateful I am to get any damn thing? I mean, I can’t do what he does,” he told the magazine. “I wouldn’t want the exposure that he has either. And he does it magnificently.”
