Jenelle+Riley

Christian Bale has an intensity that seeps into performances which leave fans awestruck1）. His passion for his craft， however， does not include self-promotion. With a pair of compelling perfs2） to tubthump3）， the excruciatingly4） private star now has to do his least favorite thing： face the media.

Christian Bale is the reluctant movie star.

Despite being regarded as one of the best actors of his generation， the enigmatic5） 39-year-old Brit has no interest in fame. His dashing， tall， dark， and handsome looks are often concealed by the unattractive physical appearances and appurtenances6） of the characters he portrays. In an era when many of his contemporaries take to social media to connect with fans， he chooses to fly beneath the radar7）， straining to keep details of his personal life private and relying strictly on gut rather than a career strategy when picking roles. He is notoriously press shy， which has no doubt made these past few days of nonstop stumping8） for his upcoming movies， Out of the Furnace and American Hustle， more an excruciating9） journey than a joy ride. Yet Bale has succumbed to the revved-up10） PR-machine pressure that accompanies the annual high-octane11） awards season， in large part because hes a rebel with a cause.

Like other nonconformist， iconoclastic12） actors such as Sean Penn13） and Joaquin Phoenix14）， Bale eschews15） playing the Hollywood celebrity game and doesnt care about how he is perceived publicly， wanting his work to speak for itself.

“Hes not warm and cuddly like George Clooney16）， but I dont think he cares about cultivating that image，” says veteran Hollywood publicist Howard Bragman， vice chair of Reputation.com. “He cares about the craft—and good for him.”

Bales bold creative choices and unwavering commitment to roles have been well documented， as have the chameleon-like physical transformations hes undertaken for characters， which render him practically unrecognizable from film to film.

He lost 63 pounds for his role in The Machinist and a similar amount for The Fighter. For his recent turn in American Hustle， he gained nearly 50 pounds. In preparation for that role， Bale became obsessed with taking on the squat17） appearance of Melvin Weinberg， the real-life conman18） with a horrible combover19）， who inspired his character Irving Rosenfeld， in the fictionalized retelling of the Abscam scandal20）.

Bale also wanted his co-star， Bradley Cooper， who plays an FBI agent in the film， to tower over him. “I would hunker down21） and physically try to make myself much shorter than Bradley， and communicate how Irv resented that，” notes Bale， whose physical appearance， along with big， blinking eyes behind tinted sunglasses， earned him the affectionate nickname the Badger22）.

Cooper， who confesses to being a longtime fan of Bale from afar， says， “Its usually hard to meet your heroes； theres a fear they wont live up to your hopes. But he far exceeded my expectations. Hes giving and natural， and someone who loves to laugh.”

To hear his peers tell it， despite all his intensity both on- and off-screen， Bale is actually humorous in real life.

Amy Adams， who played his adversary23） in The Fighter and is his lover in American Hustle， echoes this sentiment. Asked what would surprise people most about Bale， she responds without hesitation： “Hes funny. Really， really funny.”

So， to crib24） the Joker25）s line from Bales biggest hit， “Why so serious？” Bale admits to some confusion about his persona26）. “I tend to stay in character between scenes … to be rather serious on set， but heres why， and I think people will find it surprising. Im one of the worst ‘corpses on a movie set， which means you cant keep a straight face. You start to get the giggles and you cant stop. I never want to step out of a scene and be objective， because as soon as I do， I find it hilarious.”

Bale says he not only considers “nearly every scene I do really funny，” but “I find what I do for a living really funny. I mean， acting is kind of a hilarious thing for a grown man to call a job.”

Bales wit is also laced with a kind of endearing self-deprecation.

“Im a giant dumbass，” Bale says—more than once during this interview—when asked about how he chooses roles and defines his career strategy： “I have no clues， no plans， no giant scheme.”

Born in Pembrokeshire， Wales， Bale， whose father， David， was a commercial pilot and entrepreneur， rarely stayed put27） as a child， traveling with his family to various countries， including Portugal， England， and the U.S.

When Bale was a child， one of his sisters became involved in local recitals， which Bale says was the impetus28） for him to start performing. “I would be hanging around waiting for her to finish， and some people said， ‘Do you want to join in？ I eventually found myself doing school plays， suddenly getting asked to go and audition for actual professional plays—and amazingly I got a couple of them.” That included a 1984 West End production of The Nerd， alongside Rowan Atkinson29）. Soon after， Steven Spielberg cast him as the star of his 1987 war drama Empire of the Sun， a role he played at age 13.

The actor， who turns 40 in January， continues to surprise audiences even after 27 years of making movies. Just when he was pegged30） as the arthouse guy from independent films like American Psycho and The Machinist， he signed on to play Batman. After teaming with esteemed auteurs31） like Werner Herzog for Rescue Dawn and Terrence Malick for The New World， he took on director McG32）s action sequel Terminator Salvation.

“I like to keep people guessing，” Bale says.

His performances in Out of the Furnace and American Hustle couldnt be more different.

Furnace director Scott Cooper describes Bales character in that film as “a very good man who is beset on all sides by relentless fate，” a dark and quiet soul who stands to lose everything he loves. In American Hustle， Bales conman is larger than life33）， a colorful spirit that writer-director David O. Russell says “l(fā)oves food， loves people， loves jokes， and is a true people person34）.”

Bale is famous for disappearing into his characters so completely when shooting a movie that he often throws his co-workers and filmmakers off guard.

Cooper says that after Bale signed on to play Russell Baze， a steel worker in a dying Pennsylvania town who tries to rescue his Iraq veteran brother （Casey Affleck） from tragedy in Out of the Furnace， he never saw the real Bale. “He arrived on the set as Russell Baze， and it wasnt until I saw him at my home weeks later that Christian Bale emerged.”

Russell， who has now worked with Bale on two movies， The Fighter and American Hustle， says Bales extraordinary physical alternations are one thing， his complete ingestion of a character quite another.

“Christian underwent a deep soul transformation for this part，” Russell says about the actors role in his latest movie. “Its in his eyes， how he becomes this person.”

Agrees Adams， “Yes， he brings that same intensity to the character. But he also brings an amazing vulnerability and sincerity and humor. Its a side of him I dont think people have ever seen before.”

Although many in the press and industry often refer to Bale as a great Method35） actor， he in fact had no formal training in the arts other than “a class at the YMCA36） when I was 10 or 11 where we pretended to be a fried egg.”

The thesp37） says that from time to time he considers giving up acting， though his close pals always bring him back to reality.

“My friends quietly remind me that I left school at 16， and Im not qualified to do shit.”

Besides， Bale says that he has finally found a happy medium38） between his work and his home life in L.A. with his wife and their 8-year-old daughter.

“In some ways， youve got to enjoy the insanity，” he says， adding， “And I do remove myself as much as possible. If Im not working， I really have nothing to do with it—Im not hanging out and mixing with film people. Not that I have anything against film people， theyre some of the best people around and some of the worst people around， just like in any business … they just gesticulate39） a little bit more.”

克里斯蒂安·貝爾具有一種張力，這種張力滲透進他的表演，令影迷們贊嘆不已。不過，他對自己職業(yè)的熱愛并不包含自我推銷的成分。由于有兩部備受矚目的作品需要宣傳，這位極為注重隱私的明星如今不得不做他最不喜歡的事：面對媒體。

克里斯蒂安·貝爾是個不愿當明星的演員。

雖然他被視為同一代人中最優(yōu)秀的演員之一，但這位謎一般的39歲（編注：英文原文發(fā)表于2013年）的英國人對名氣卻沒有興趣。他扮演的角色那缺乏吸引力的外形和裝備常常掩蓋了他本人高大、黝黑、英俊瀟灑的外表。在許多同時代的人紛紛借助社交網(wǎng)絡與影迷交流的當下，他卻選擇遠離公眾的視線，盡力保護個人生活細節(jié)的隱私，并在選擇角色時完全依靠直覺而非出于對職業(yè)規(guī)劃的考量。他是出了名的怕見媒體，因此過去幾天來為了即將上映的新片《逃出熔爐》和《美國騙局》馬不停蹄地做宣傳，對他而言無疑更多的是一次非常痛苦而非愉快的旅程。不過，隨著一年一度令人興奮的頒獎季的來臨，貝爾還是屈服于摩拳擦掌的公關部門的壓力，這在很大程度上是因為他并不是個無故反叛的人。

和西恩·潘、杰昆·菲尼克斯這些特立獨行、打破傳統(tǒng)的演員一樣，貝爾也不肯按照好萊塢明星的游戲規(guī)則行事。他不在乎公眾怎么看他，只想用作品說話。

“他不像喬治·克魯尼那樣和藹可親，不過我想他也無意樹立那種形象，”好萊塢資深公關專家、Reputation網(wǎng)站的副總裁霍華德·布拉格曼表示，“他在乎的是演技——這對他有好處?！?/p>

有許多作品見證了貝爾大膽的創(chuàng)新性選擇和對角色的不懈付出，這些作品也記錄了他為角色所做出的變色龍一樣的外形改變，這使他在每部影片中幾乎都讓人難以辨認。

為了《機械師》中的角色，他減重63磅；為了出演《斗士》，他也減去了大致相同的重量；為了出演新片《美國騙局》，他增重近50磅。這部電影改編自阿布斯堪姆計劃，其中貝爾的角色歐文·羅森菲爾德的靈感來自現(xiàn)實中留著難看的“地方支援中央”發(fā)型的騙子梅爾文·溫伯格。在準備這個角色時，貝爾像著了魔似的讓自己的體型盡量貼近梅爾文·溫伯格那矮胖的身材。

貝爾還希望與他共同主演本片、在片中飾演聯(lián)邦調查局探員的布萊德利·庫珀看上去比他高。“我會蹲低身子，設法讓自己在個頭上比布萊德利矮很多，并表現(xiàn)出歐文對此有多么不滿?！必悹栒f。他的體型以及淺色太陽鏡后閃爍的大眼睛為他贏得了一個親切的昵稱——“獾”。

庫珀坦言自己是貝爾多年的影迷，只是兩人相隔甚遠，他說：“與自己的偶像見面通常很困難，你會擔心他們沒有你希望的那么好。但他遠遠超出了我的預期。他樂于付出、毫不做作，還很愛笑?！?/p>

據(jù)他的同輩人說，盡管貝爾在銀幕內(nèi)外都有強大的氣場，但現(xiàn)實生活中的他其實很幽默。

在《斗士》中扮演他的敵對方并在《美國騙局》中扮演他的情人的艾米·亞當斯也同意這種觀點。當被問到貝爾最令人意外的一點是什么時，她毫不猶豫地回答道：“他非常風趣，真的非常風趣。”

那么，借用貝爾最熱門的影片中“小丑”的一句臺詞：“干嗎這么嚴肅呢？”貝爾承認自己展現(xiàn)在外人面前的性格有點混亂?！拔以谂臄z間隙往往會停留在角色里……在片場相當嚴肅，不過，這樣做的原因我覺得大家都想不到。我在電影片場是最繃不住的那種人，就是說很難板著臉不笑。一旦笑起來就停不下來。我從來不想在一場戲結束后就出戲，就變得客觀，因為一這么做我就會覺得很好笑?！?/p>

貝爾說他不僅認為“幾乎我演的每一場戲都很滑稽”，而且“我覺得自己的工作本身就很好笑。我是說，對一個成年人而言，把表演稱為工作是件非?；氖隆?。

貝爾的風趣中還夾雜著一種討人喜歡的自嘲。

“我是個大白癡，”在被問到他如何選擇角色、如何確定自己的職業(yè)規(guī)劃時貝爾說，這句話他在采訪中說了不止一次，“沒有頭緒，沒有計劃，也沒有長遠規(guī)劃。”

貝爾出生在威爾士的彭布羅克郡，父親戴維是一位民用飛機駕駛員和企業(yè)家。貝爾小時候很少在一處地方久待，跟隨家人去過葡萄牙、英格蘭和美國等很多國家。

貝爾小時候，他的一個姐姐曾參與當?shù)氐睦收b會，據(jù)貝爾說，那促使他走上了表演之路?！拔視诟浇e逛，等她表演結束。有人問我：‘想不想加入進來？最終我在學校參加了戲劇演出，又突然接到通知，讓我去參加真正專業(yè)的戲劇演出面試——我居然還得到過幾個角色?！边@其中就包括1984年在倫敦西區(qū)上演的話劇《討厭鬼》，與羅溫·艾金森同臺。不久之后，貝爾被史蒂文·斯皮爾伯格選中主演其1987年上映的戰(zhàn)爭影片《太陽帝國》，那年貝爾才13歲。

這位1月份就邁入40歲的演員甚至在從影27年后仍不斷為觀眾帶來驚喜。就在他因為出演《美國精神病人》和《機械師》等獨立電影而被歸于藝術片演員之列時，他卻簽約出演了蝙蝠俠。在與備受尊崇的導演維爾納·赫爾佐格及特倫斯·馬利克分別合作了《重見天日》和《新世界》之后，他又接拍了導演McG的動作片續(xù)集《終結者2018》。

“我喜歡讓人捉摸不透?！必悹栒f。

他在《逃出熔爐》和《美國騙局》中的表演簡直有天壤之別。

《逃出熔爐》的導演斯科特·庫珀將貝爾在片中的角色描述為“一個處處遭受無情命運捉弄的大好人”，一個陰郁沉默、終將失去一切所愛的人。而在《美國騙局》中，貝爾飾演的騙子則是一個不同凡響、富有趣味的人。影片的編劇兼導演大衛(wèi)·O·拉塞爾形容他“喜愛美食、喜愛交際、喜歡說笑，是一個真正善于和人打交道的人”。

在拍電影時，貝爾會完全融入他的角色中，常常會令與他共事的演員和導演猝不及防。這一點是出了名的。

庫珀說，自從貝爾簽約出演拉塞爾·貝茲——《逃出熔爐》中賓夕法尼亞凋敝小鎮(zhèn)上的鋼鐵工人，試圖把從伊拉克退伍歸來的弟弟（凱西·阿弗萊克飾）從不幸中解救出來——之后，他就再也沒看到貝爾以真實面貌示人。“他來片場的時候就是拉塞爾·貝茲，直到幾周后我在自己家見到他，克里斯蒂安·貝爾才出現(xiàn)?！?

已經(jīng)同貝爾合作過《斗士》和《美國騙局》兩部影片的拉塞爾表示，貝爾非凡的外形改變能力固然是一方面，他對角色的透徹理解則是另一回事。

“克里斯蒂安為這個角色經(jīng)歷了靈魂深處的轉變，”拉塞爾談到貝爾在他最新的影片中飾演的角色時說，“從他的眼睛就能看出來，他是怎樣變成了這個人物。”

亞當斯對此表示贊同：“是的，他將一貫的張力帶入了這個角色，但他還表現(xiàn)出了令人驚嘆的脆弱、真誠和幽默。我覺得他的這一面是人們以前從未見過的。”

雖然許多媒體和電影界人士經(jīng)常將貝爾稱為偉大的體驗派演員，但他其實并未受過電影藝術方面的專業(yè)訓練，除了“在10歲或11歲時在基督教青年會上過一課，課上大家裝作自己是一枚煎蛋”。

這位演員表示，他有時會考慮不再演戲，不過他的好友們總是會把他帶回現(xiàn)實。

“我的朋友們悄悄提醒我說，我16歲就離開了學校，其他工作都做不了?！?/p>

此外，貝爾表示，他終于在工作和家庭生活之間找到了平衡，他現(xiàn)在和妻子及八歲的女兒一起住在洛杉磯。

“某種程度上，你必須享受這種瘋狂，”他說，又補充道，“我的確會盡量從中抽身。不工作的時候，我真的和電影毫無瓜葛——我不會和圈內(nèi)人交際往來。這并不是說我對電影圈的人有什么意見，他們中有好有壞，就像從事任何行業(yè)的人一樣……他們只是說話時手勢更多一些罷了。”

1. awestruck [????str?k] adj.

驚嘆的

2. perf：此處是performance的縮寫。

3. tubthump [?t?bθ?mp] vt. 極力推銷

4. excruciatingly [?k?skru??i?e?t??li] adv. 極度

地，極端地

5. enigmatic [?en?ɡ?m?t?k] adj. 神秘的

6. appurtenance [??p??t?n?ns] n. 附屬物，附加物

7. beneath the radar：在視線以外，不引人注目地

8. stump [st?mp] vi. 〈美口〉發(fā)表競選演說，進行競選活動

9. excruciating [?k?skru??i?e?t??] adj. 極痛苦的，折磨人的

10. revved-up：躍躍欲試的，做好準備的

11. high-octane：令人興奮的，激動人心的

12. iconoclastic [a??k?n??kl?st?k] adj. 破除傳統(tǒng)觀念的

13. Sean Penn：西恩·潘（1960～），美國電影演員

14. Joaquin Phoenix：杰昆·菲尼克斯（1974～），美國演員

15. eschew [?s?t?u?] vt. 回避，避免

16. George Clooney：喬治·克魯尼（1961～），美國演員、導演

17. squat [skw?t] adj. 矮胖的

18. conman [?k?nm?n] n. 騙子

19. combover [?k??m???v?（r）] n. 謝頂?shù)哪凶影杨^頂四周的頭發(fā)梳至頭頂?shù)陌l(fā)型

20. Abscam scandal：指20世紀70年代末80年代初美國聯(lián)邦調查局制定的阿布斯堪姆計劃（指派其成員裝扮成阿拉伯人向國會議員等官員進行賄賂，以此調查腐敗行為）

21. hunker down：蹲下；蹲坐

22. badger [?b?d??（r）] n. [動]獾

23. adversary [??dv?（r）s（?）ri] n. 敵手；敵人

24. crib [kr?b] vt. 〈口〉剽竊

25. Joker：小丑，影片《蝙蝠俠：黑暗騎士》中的角色，下文中的“Why so serious？”是其在電影中的一句經(jīng)典臺詞。

26. persona [p?（r）?s??n?] n. 表面形象

27. stay put：留在原地不動

28. impetus [??mp?t?s] n. 推動力；刺激因素

29. Rowan Atkinson：羅溫·艾金森（1955～），英國演員，因出演喜劇《憨豆先生》而走紅。

30. peg [peɡ] vt. 〈口〉分類；鑒定

31. auteur [???t??（r）] n. （藝術表現(xiàn)力很強的）導演

32. McG：即約瑟夫·麥克金提·尼徹（Joseph McGinty Nichol， 1968～），美國導演、制作人

33. larger than life：非同一般的；超群的

34. people person：頗受歡迎的人，善于與人打交道的人

35. Method [?meθ?d] n. [戲]體驗派表演方法，進入角色表演方法

36. YMCA：基督教青年會（Young Mens Christian Association），全球性基督教青年社會服務團體，1844年創(chuàng)立于英國倫敦。

37. thesp [θesp] n. 〈口〉演員（= thespian）

38. happy medium：折中方法，中庸之道

39. gesticulate [d?e?st?kj?le?t] vi. （講話時）做（或用）手勢；用姿勢（或動作）示意