- It takes people to (audio cuts out) hate it
at the same time, to make any sort of change
to what they're doing.
Of course you want to have a good reception,
but you don't make a movie by committee.
Last take was really good.
We had that little moment, didn't we?
Seeing other actors who stand and somebody shouts action
and they just go, "I don't know what to do".
I've never particularly been asked to do transformations,
but, you know, you just get it in your head.
Then, you just go, "I need to".
I'm very myopic in what I choose.
I don't have any strategy.
I don't have any plans,
and then a horrible moment, when you see a director going,
"God", you know, lookin' at you like, "Oh, Jesus Christ".
- He's an English actor known for going to great lengths
to portray characters in his films.
He first caught the attention of the public eye
when he was 13, and he was cast in the starring role
of Empire of the Sun.
He went on to receive greater recognition
and commercial success with his role as Bruce Wayne/Batman.
He's Christian Bale, and here's my take
on his top 10 rules for success.
- [Interviewer] Is there a reason that you get out of bed
to go act every year when you do?
- 'Cause when it's good, it's really good.
When it's not, I (audio cuts out) hate it, you know,
but when it's good, it's a love-hate thing.
And it's a love-hate thing for me
because of coming from a place
where it was actually a responsibility at a young age,
because, you know, for my family,
it was just such an unfathomable amount of sudden cash
that you could get for doing it that I went,
"Yeah, well even though I don't really feel like doing it,
"I can't really live with myself and not,
"because it helps my family so much,"
and I felt responsibility to do that.
I come at it from a slightly different point of view.
You know, it wasn't something that I said,
I went through school going,
"Oh, you know what? I'd like to become an actor.
"Oh yeah, I love films.
"That's what I'm going to try to do".
It was something that happened at an early age,
and then I went, "I can't get out of this,"
because it's really helpful to my family,
you know, and, so,
yeah, no, I must do it.
That's why I've got this slight love-hate thing with it,
but I actually think that love-hate is quite
a healthy thing to have.
If all you do is love film, if all you do is love acting,
you're just going to imitate what you love, right?
It takes people to (audio cuts out) hate it
at the same time, to make any sort of change
to what they're doing,
and to me that's when it becomes interesting.
- [Narrator] Bale's now been on our screen
since he was a little boy,
since Spielberg's Empire of the Sun.
- Go!
I love the experience of doing it,
even though it's kind of strange.
I was 12 years old, and I was off in these countries
by myself, and then, yeah, so I loved,
but then you get all the press you have to do afterwards,
and that kind of did in my head a little bit
and made me go, "Yeah, forget it.
"This ain't for me".
- That and still now?
- Always, yeah, yeah, but that's all right.
The reason I love being an actor
is because I'm not playing myself.
That's the only thing I know how to do as well.
(laughs)
There is that, too.
I left school really early,
and I never paid attention anyways. (laughs)
- This isn't a career of last resort
- They want to know.
It's the only choice.
There is nothing else.
I'm not good at anything else.
When it comes to pleasing people, listen,
of course you want to have a good reception,
but, you don't make a movie by committee,
and I have to make a movie that I would want to see,
and I have to create a character that I am interested in,
and that's it.
I put my head down, and I focus on that,
and I don't really pay attention to what people
may be requesting,
because I believe that, if we have enough conviction
in what we're doing, then people will believe it as well.
My belief is that technique should change
for every single film that you make,
that you can have, you can get into ruts
that can be bad ruts where nothing's working,
but equally when everything's working;
that's a rut as well,
and you have to get out of it.
You have to just abandon it,
because it starts to become phony if you go in,
well this worked first before,
and it can be from film to film
or it can be from take to take.
Last take was really good.
We had that little moment, didn't we?
You said that, and I went (mumbles),
and you went (mumbles), and then it (audio cuts out)
was great, and everyone went ah!
Let's do that again.
It'll never be the same.
You actually have to try to make sure,
no, ignore that, blow it apart,
and do something totally different.
Hopefully, they got that on camera.
That's a choice they have now.
Do something completely different
and, a similar thing, we're going from one film to the next.
If you're working with the same director,
don't fall back on your old tricks from that old film.
That was a different film.
Different tricks were needed,
Go for new tricks.
Don't be a one trick pony.
- [Interviewer] You do very strong characters
in pretty much everything.
You have very strong decisions.
Do you make those decisions before you start
and then come to the set with what you're going to do
and then adjust in small ways, or you what?
- The way I always approach it is this,
that I like to have my own ideas completely worked out,
so that, if a director,
I come to find his working method
is that he doesn't want to talk to me,
that I'm not at a loss.
There's nothing worse.
I've seen other actors who stand,
and somebody shouts action, and they're just going,
"I don't know what to do".
They need somebody to come and tell them what to do.
I never look at a director as somebody who tells me
what to do.
I look at it as someone who we work together in something,
and, therefore, I need to be responsible, too,
so I have to bring something to the table,
and say I will do it this way.
If you never say it, if you keep silent,
this is how I'll do it,
and I'll give a few different versions,
but it would be, it wouldn't matter if they said nothing.
I've never particularly been asked to do transformations,
but, you know, you just go, you just get it in your head.
Then, you just go, "I need to".
That's what I need to do.
I don't know how to play that part without looking that way.
I always talk with the director about it.
It's just that they don't necessarily understand
quite to what lengths I might be talking about.
There's no point in doing something
if you're not going to do it absolutely.
Do it to the hilt.
Yeah, there did come a point when I suddenly started
to get more satisfaction out of it and realizing
there was something that, even though
I can't quite bring myself to say something of worth to it,
that I can say something worth me doing it for,
and, if I'm going to do it, if I'm going to take the time
to do it, then I want to do it
in as much of an immersive way as possible,
because you're just coming to learn
in life that the things that you really get a kick out of,
the things that you just can't deny,
they're the things that, when you're doing them,
you can think of nothing else
but what you're doing, you know?
I (audio cuts out) up my whole arm and wrist.
I got all metal plates here and here and screws
all up and down my arm through riding motorcycles,
not on the streets, but on racetracks,
and that was something which I realized was very much
when acting is good, why I like it,
because, when you're riding a motorcycle,
to the hilt,
knowing the danger involved,
you have to be absolutely focused on what you're doing.
You can't allow anything else in,
and there is such a thrill to doing that, you know.
That's why it's so hypnotic and just mesmerizing
and I just love it,
and I realize that the best times
I feel a similar thing with acting,
and it doesn't happen that often,
because it's a team thing.
On a motorcycle, it's just you and it going.
This is a team thing, and you require the environment
to be created in which you can do that,
but, when that does happen, that's what I love about it.
It was in talking with Adam,
and hearing just, you know,
man this guy was so obsessed with this subject,
and I want to work with people who are obsessed
with what they're doing, you know.
I don't want to work with anyone who's just sort of
phoning it in, and, oh yeah, it's all right.
I could do it or do something else.
I want someone who's kind of, I got to do this film,
I got to do this film.
That's very attractive.
You wanted me: here I am.
I'm very myopic in what I choose.
I don't have any strategy, I don't have any plans,
I don't have any particular kind of film
that I can articulate that I like.
I just look at each day very up close,
what's in front of me.
Do I like it?
Does it stick with me?
Could I work on it for a few months?
That's it.
The slightest amount of control that I have
is what happens on the actual set.
You sometimes get really great scenes that are cut.
That happens, you know, so what do you do?
You say to yourself, "All right, well,
"let's get the satisfaction
"out of actually making it".
That's the only way.
It's the only way to get any satisfaction from it.
The rest of it is all gravy.
- [Interviewer] But it must be always be a great moment
when you see the light in the director's eyes,
seeing something they didn't expect,
when you're on that set.
- Oh, that's great.
Oh, of course, yeah yeah yeah,
when they go, "Oh yeah, I didn't notice that,"
and then a horrible moment
when you see a director going,
"God," you know, lookin' at you like, "Oh, Jesus Christ,"
or actually saying that.
"Jesus Christ, what was that,"
(laughs)
or walking past you and just going. (audio cuts out)
It's like what, and you go,
"What the (audio cuts out) was that".
Like, "What".
You're not even going to explain
why you're swearing at me?
But that's what I enjoy.
I enjoy that.
I enjoy all the different relationships that you have.
- [Interviewer] It sounds like it's about as good
as it can get right now, it sounds like.
Did you find interesting things in doing the work
the way you need to do it and--
- Yeah, but pride comes before a fall, doesn't it?
I mean, you get, you never know, you know.
I mean that's what I do enjoy.
You just really never know and so often the films
that people think you should do and are the right moves
and seem to be great, it's too good to be true
for a reason, and you end up going, "Yeah, it's okay".
That's it, you know,
and, so often, what I found, in my own career,
if you want to call it that,
is it's the films where people go, "There's a big chance
"that this is going to go south," and I tend to go,
"That's the one I want to do then,"
and they tend to be the ones
that either really (audio cuts out) go south,
or, wow, that really surprised everybody
and came out with something very different.
Yeah, no, you can never be too sure at all,
and I think that would be, you know,
being too sure is complacency, isn't it,
and you're going to die.
You're going to die quickly from complacency.
- Thank you so much for watching.
I made this video, because DiLLZCFX asked me to.
If there's a famous entrepreneur you want me
to profile next, leave it in comments below,
and I'll see what I can do.
I'd also love to know which of Christian Bale's
top ten rules hit you the hardest and why.
Leave it in the comments.
I will join in the discussion.
Thank you so much for watching.
Continue to believe, and I'll see you soon.