November 2004
November 26th, 2004
Desperate Housewife Faces Harsh Times
Source: MTV November 24, 2004
Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria (she plays Gabrielle Solis) has signed on to star opposite Christian Bale in Harsh Times, the directorial debut of writer David Ayer (Training Day, The Fast and the Furious), reports MTV.
The story follows Mike Alvarez (Freddy Rodriguez), unemployed and looking for a job, and Jim David (Bale) who has just been accepted by the DEA to do his share of the dirty work in Columbia.
A pair of hell-raising beer-drinking screw-ups with time on their hands, they spend a few days riding around Los Angeles, causing trouble and leaving havoc in their wake - until it all catches up to them and the good times turn harsh.
Shooting on the independent film starts in Los Angeles in January.
Source: comingsoon.net and mtv
November 22nd, 2004
'Machinist' Actor Lost 63 Pounds for Role
By The Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO - To lose 63 pounds, Christian Bale stopped eating and kept on moving. Normally weighing in at 185 pounds, the actor adhered to a fairly uncomplicated weight-loss regimen for the movie "The Machinist." He ignored food and ramped up his fat-burning power by running.
"I didn't look at the script and think, 'Oh my God, I get a chance to lose weight for this movie. Yes!'" Bale told the San Francisco Chronicle in Sunday's editions. "That would have been moronic. It was a matter of me liking the script so much that I wanted to achieve what I felt was necessary."
In "The Machinist," Bale plays Trevor Reznik, a paranoid, forgetful, guilt-ridden factory worker who is beset by hallucinations because he hasn't slept for a year.
"I eventually hit a point where the running wasn't working anymore," he said. "It was more like stumbling - the legs had atrophied to such an extent they looked comical."
A former child actor who starred in Steven Spielberg's 1987 "Empire of the Sun," Bale has appeared in "American Psycho," "Captain Corelli's Mandolin," "Shaft," "Reign of Fire" and "Laurel Canyon."
November 21th, 2004
Magazine alert: Watch out for articles on Christian in the following magazines:
"Details" with Ben Affleck on the cover, "Flaunt" #59 6th anniversary issue.
November 19th, 2004
Batman: The Reinvention
Bale spills the beans on Begins.
Christian Bale spoke with the Chicago Sun-Times about the Windy City portion
of the Batman Begins shoot and how he got involved with the project.
"I contacted them. I heard they were doing some low-budget Batman not aimed at kids and I was tantalized," Bale revealed. "I had appreciated the Batman movies, but I wasn't really a fan and I didn't know the TV series. But I read some of the graphic novels and they were very dark and very interesting."
Bale lost interest briefly when he realized Batman was going to be a big-budget affair but was won over again when Chris Nolan came onboard to direct. "We clicked and hopefully we've made something very different."
"Our film is different" than the prior Batman flicks, Bale promised. "Our Batman is centered on the early days. It's an explanation. It's certainly not Batman No. 5. It's a reinvention. We want you to forget there has ever been a Batman before this one." For much more of what Bale had to say, click here.
-- Stax
November 4th, 2004
Bale & Rodriguez Experience Harsh Times
Christian Bale (Batman Begins) and Freddy Rodriguez will star in the independent film Harsh Times, says Production Weekly. The film is described as a West Coast version of Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets, set in South Central Los Angeles.
David Ayer (Training Day) will make his feature directorial debut from his original screenplay, which was developed at the Sundance screenwriter's lab. Production is set to begin in Los Angeles the beginning of December.
The story follows Mike Alvarez (Rodriguez), unemployed and looking for a job, and Jim David (Bale) who has just been accepted by the DEA to do his share of the dirty work in Columbia.
A pair of hell-raising beer-drinking screw-ups with time on their hands, they spend a few days riding around Los Angeles, causing trouble and leaving havoc in their wake - until it all catches up to them and the good times turn harsh
Source: Production Weekly November 3, 2004 - thanks to June for emailing me about this!