Christian Bale opened up about the intense physical and emotional demands behind his transformation into Frankenstein’s monster for The Bride!revealing that the process caused him to adopt unusual coping methods just to get through the day.
In an interview with Weekly EntertainmentThe actor said he spent six hours a day in the makeup chair while working on the film, a reimagining of the 1935 classic. Bride of Frankenstein directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal.
Bale stars alongside Jessie Buckley, who plays the bride and spent about an hour and a half doing makeup for her own transformation.
Reflecting on the grueling routine, Bale admitted that the long hours of forced immobility took their toll.
“I screamed like crazy, every day. Just to [release the] the desperation, all that restraint you have to have when you sit for that long,” he said, explaining how he kept himself “from going crazy” during the process.
These screams, however, were carefully timed.
Bale said he avoided doing it on the way to work, fearing it would distract him while driving, and ruled out shouting alone because it could easily be misunderstood.
Instead, what began as a private release gradually became a shared ritual on set.
“Oh man, I tell you, the whole team got involved at the end because people could hear us screaming,” Bale said.
“We opened the doors, and little by little, a bit like the Bridal Revolution, a few people said: ‘Can we do it too?’ And then at the end there were about 30 people who heard us and ran to the makeup trailer to be a part of it and scream too.
This role adds another extreme chapter to Bale’s long history of physical transformations.
Over the years, he became known for radically altering his body to suit his characters, following a strict high-protein diet for his characters. American Psycho lose 60 pounds in four months to reach 120 pounds during The Mechanist.
For this film, his daily intake apparently consisted of “water, an apple, and a cup of coffee a day.”
Shortly after, Bale went in the opposite direction, gaining around 100 pounds of muscle in just six months to play Bruce Wayne in Christopher Nolan’s film. Batman Beginsconsolidating its reputation for total physical commitment.
The Bride! is scheduled to hit theaters on March 6, distributed by Warner Bros.
