If there’s one actor working today known for their dedication to looking the part, it’s Christian Bale.
The 44-year-old actor lost 63 lbs for The Machinist, then gained 100 lbs to play Batman in Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins just six months later. His commitment to the job was loudly and angrily demonstrated when Bale went berserk on the set of Terminator Salvation when distracted by a member of the crew.
Now the Oscar winner is back in transformation mode, starring as former Vice President Dick Cheney in Vice, from director Adam McKay.
Cheney, often described as the most powerful Vice President in US history, served from 2001 to 2009. Vice looks at “the epic story about how a bureaucratic Washington insider quietly became the most powerful man in the world as Vice President to George W. Bush, reshaping the country and the globe in ways that we still feel today.”
Amy Adams stars opposite Bale as Cheney’s wife Lynne. Steve Carell plays Donald Rumsfeld, with Sam Rockwell as George W. Bush.
Director McKay was previously best known for making comedies, often starring Will Ferrel, such as Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and Step Brothers. However his 2015 film The Big Short, also starring Bale and Carell, bagged him the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and a nomination for Best Director.
