Christian Bale says he owes his career to Leo DiCaprio declining roles

2022-10-06

Christian Bale reveals Leonardo DiCaprio is offered every major male movie part in Hollywood: ‘Any role anybody gets, it’s only because he passed’

Bale claimed that Leonardo DiCaprio gets first dibs on every major male movie role in Hollywood
The Batman actor, 48, said that ‘to this day, any role that anybody gets, it’s only because he’s passed on it beforehand’ while speaking with GQ
Bale went on: ‘I would suspect that almost everybody of similar age to him in Hollywood owes their careers to him passing on whatever project it is’
‘It doesn’t matter how friendly you are with the directors. All those people that I’ve worked with multiple times, they all offered every one of those roles to him first,’ the English actor added
The American Psycho star had apparently lost five movie roles to DiCaprio in the 90’s, including Titanic, This Boy’s Life, and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape

Christian Bale claimed that Leonardo DiCaprio gets first dibs on every major male movie role in Hollywood in a new interview.

The Batman actor, 48, said that ‘to this day, any role that anybody gets, it’s only because he’s passed on it beforehand’ while speaking with GQ.

Bale added that he and other actors in the 47-year-old Titanic star’s age range owe their careers to him: ‘I would suspect that almost everybody of similar age to him in Hollywood owes their careers to him passing on whatever project it is.’

Hollywood insight: Christian Bale claimed that Leonardo DiCaprio gets first dibs on every major male movie role in Hollywood in a new interview with GQ

‘It doesn’t matter what anyone tells you. It doesn’t matter how friendly you are with the directors. All those people that I’ve worked with multiple times, they all offered every one of those roles to him first,’ the English actor added.

‘I had one of those people actually tell me that. So, thank you, Leo, because literally, he gets to choose everything he does. And good for him, he’s phenomenal.’

The conversation came about when interviewer Zach Baron brought up the fact that DiCaprio – who started out in the movie business as a child just like Bale, and is only 10 months younger than him – was first cast in the 2000 film American Psycho ahead of Bale.

First dibs: The Batman actor, 48, said that ‘to this day, any role that anybody gets, it’s only because he’s passed on it beforehand’; (L) Bale pictured 2022, (R) DiCaprio pictured 2021

Thanks, Leo! The actor added: ‘I would suspect that almost everybody of similar age to him in Hollywood owes their careers to him passing on whatever project it is’

Though Bale eventually ended up starring as Patrick Bateman – a New York City investment banker by day, and a serial killer by night – after DiCaprio dropped out, he had apparently lost five other movie roles to him in the 90’s, including Titanic.

Bale stressed ‘it’s not just me’ and that every male lead is first offered to the Gatsby actor.

Asked whether he took it personally, Bale replied: ‘No. Do you know how grateful I am to get any damn thing? I mean, I can’t do what he does. I wouldn’t want the exposure that he has either.’

He offered further words of praise to the Los Angeles native, adding: ‘He does it magnificently.’

Leo first: ‘It doesn’t matter how friendly you are with the directors. All those people that I’ve worked with multiple times, they all offered every one of those roles to him first’; Pictured 2019

Phenomenal: The actor, who apparently lost five movie roles to Leo in the 90’s, including Titanic, added: ‘He gets to choose everything he does. And good for him, he’s phenomenal’; DiCaprio pictured with Kate Winslet in a still from Titanic

There are conflicting stories on why DiCaprio exited American Psycho, with one theory being that he had creative differences with Oliver Stone, who was set to direct the movie at the time.

Another theory by the film’s co-writer Guinevere Turner revealed that it might have been a meeting with Gloria Steinem, who didn’t approve of the violence against women in the film, that made DiCaprio drop out.

‘My friend, who had just spoken to Gloria Steinem, said that Gloria Steinem took Leonardo DiCaprio to a Yankees game. I believe, she said, “Please don’t do this movie. Coming off of Titanic, there is an entire planet full of 13-year-old girls waiting to see what you do next, and this is going to be a movie that has horrible violence toward women,”‘ she recalled in an interview with Vice in 2020.

Among other roles Bale reportedly lost to DiCaprio are This Boy’s Life (1993) and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993).

Kept that one: Bale also almost lost out on playing Patrick Bateman – a New York City investment banker by day, and a serial killer by night – in American Psycho to DiCaprio, who was first cast in the film but later dropped out

A silent rivalry: Among other roles Bale reportedly lost to DiCaprio are This Boy’s Life (1993) and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993); Dicaprio pictured with Johnny Depp and Juliette Lewis in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape

Elsewhere in the GQ interview Bale revealed that he acted as a ‘mediator’ between Amy Adams and David O. Russell on the contentious set of the 2013 crime comedy American Hustle.

Years ago a leaked email from the Sony hacks alleged that David ‘abused’ Amy to the point where Christian had to step in. She herself has since described feeling ‘devastated’ on the set of the film ‘most’ days.

Now Christian confirmed previous claims that he got involved when tensions broke out between Amy and her director: ‘If I can have some sense of understanding of where it’s coming from, then I do tend to attempt to be a mediator,’ Christian claimed.

‘That’s just in my nature, to try to say: “Hey, come on, let’s go and sit down and figure that out. There’s gotta be a way of making this all work.”‘

Flashback: Elsewhere in the GQ interview Bale also revealed that he acted as a ‘mediator’ between Amy Adams and David O. Russell on the contentious set of the 2013 crime comedy American Hustle; The trio on set

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