Christian Bale

Christian Charles Philip Bale (born 30 January 1974) is an English actor.

Known for his versatility and physical transformations for his roles, he has been a leading man in films of several genres.

He has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards.

Christian Charles Philip Bale was born on 30 January 1974 in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, to English parents—Jenny James, a circus performer, and David Bale, an entrepreneur and activist.

Bale has remarked, "I was born in Wales but I'm not Welsh—I'm English."

He has two elder sisters, Sharon and Louise, and a half-sister from his father's first marriage, Erin.

One of his grandfathers was a comedian while the other was a stand-in for John Wayne.

Bale and his family left Wales when he was two years old, and after living in Portugal and Oxfordshire, England, they settled in Bournemouth.

As well as saying that the family had lived in 15 towns by the time he was 15, Bale described the frequent relocation as being driven by "necessity rather than choice" and acknowledged that it had a major influence on his career selection.

He attended Bournemouth School, later saying he left school at age 16.

After participating in school plays, Bale performed opposite Rowan Atkinson in the play The Nerd in the West End in 1984.

He did not undergo any formal acting training.

After deciding to become an actor at age ten, Bale secured a minor role in the 1986 television film Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna.

Born in Wales to English parents, Bale had his breakthrough role at age 13 in Steven Spielberg's 1987 war film Empire of the Sun.

Its star, Amy Irving, who was married to director Steven Spielberg, subsequently recommended Bale for Spielberg's 1987 film Empire of the Sun.

At age 13, Bale was chosen from over 4,000 actors to portray a British boy in a World War II Japanese internment camp.

For the film, he spoke with an upper-class cadence without the help of a dialogue coach.

The role propelled Bale to fame, and his work earned him acclaim and the inaugural Best Performance by a Juvenile Actor Award from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures.

Earlier in the same year, he starred in the fantasy film Mio in the Land of Faraway, based on the novel Mio, My Son by Astrid Lindgren.

The fame from Empire of the Sun led to Bale being bullied in school and finding the pressures of working as an actor unbearable.

He grew distrustful of the acting profession because of media attention but said that he felt obligated at a young age to continue to act for financial reasons.

Around this time, actor and filmmaker Kenneth Branagh persuaded Bale to appear in his film Henry V in 1989, which drew him back into acting.

The following year, Bale played Jim Hawkins opposite Charlton Heston as Long John Silver in Treasure Island, a television film adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's book of the same name.

Bale's parents divorced in 1991, and at age 17, he moved with his sister Louise and their father to Los Angeles.

Bale trained in ballet as a child.

His first acting role came at eight years old in a commercial for the fabric softener Lenor.

He also appeared in a Pac-Man cereal commercial.

After his sister was cast in a West End musical, Bale considered taking up acting professionally.

He said later he did not find acting appealing but pursued it at the request of those around him because he had no reason not to do so.

Bale starred in the 1992 Disney musical film Newsies, which was unsuccessful both at the box office and with critics.

In 1993, he appeared in Swing Kids, a film about teenagers who secretly listen to forbidden jazz during the rise of Nazi Germany.

In Gillian Armstrong's 1994 film Little Women, Bale played Theodore "Laurie" Laurence following a recommendation from Winona Ryder, who starred as Jo March.

After more than a decade of performing in leading and supporting roles in films, he gained wider recognition for his portrayals of serial killer Patrick Bateman in the black comedy American Psycho (2000) and the title role in the psychological thriller The Machinist (2004).

In 2005, he played superhero Batman in Batman Begins and again in The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012), garnering acclaim for his performance in the trilogy, which is one of the highest-grossing film franchises.

Bale continued in starring roles in a range of films outside his work as Batman, including the period drama The Prestige (2006), the action film Terminator Salvation (2009), the crime drama Public Enemies (2009), the epic film Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014) and the superhero film Thor: Love and Thunder (2022).

For his portrayal of boxer Dicky Eklund in the 2010 biographical film The Fighter, he won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award.

Rebecca Milzoff of Vulture revisited the film in 2012 and found the cracks in Bale's voice during his performance of the song "Santa Fe" charming and apt even though he was not a great singer.

Further Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations came for his work in the black comedy American Hustle (2013) and the biographical dramedies The Big Short (2015) and Vice (2018).

Forbes magazine ranked him as one of the highest-paid actors in 2014.

His performances as politician Dick Cheney in Vice and race car driver Ken Miles in the sports drama Ford v Ferrari (2019) earned him a second win and a fifth nomination respectively at the Golden Globe Awards.