Is Austin Butler fit to be Patrick Bateman? Well, the casting director for the 2000 film “American Psycho” has a different take on which role Butler should play…
An “American Psycho” reimagining was announced in 2024 with Luca Guadagnino directing from Scott Z. Burns’ adaptation. Austin Butler was rumored to lead the film as Patrick Bateman, the character that Christian Bale first brought to screen. However, author Brett Easton Ellis later said that the remake was “fake news” and that no deals for any of the aforementioned creatives are in place. Guadagnino went on to appear in a video message during Lionsgate’s CinemaCon presentation confirming his involvement in the project and said that the script is “coming out very handsomely.”
Now, casting director Kerry Barden is weighing in on how Butler just might be too handsome to lead the feature. Barden cited how Butler is more similar to supporting star Jared Leto than lead Bale. Leto played Bale’s onscreen competitor Paul Allen in the 2000 version.
“I would cast Austin in Jared’s role because he’s that beautiful, and that’s why we cast Jared, is because he’s that beautiful,” Barden told The Hollywood Reporter. “Jared is certainly a great actor as well, and obviously, Austin has a lot of depth as an actor, too. But not every person has that kind of beauty.”
And that sentiment of Butler’s aesthetic has also been shared by his “The Bikeriders” director Jeff Nichols, who previously told Total Film that he was “pretty certain I was seeing the most beautiful human being I’d ever seen” when he met Butler.
It’s not just Barden (and “American Psycho” author Ellis) who have voiced their skepticism for the reimagining. Producer Chris Hanley told THR that “everybody’s calling me, going like, ‘How stupid to make [‘American Psycho’].” However, after working on the 2000 feature, Hanley stands by Guadagnino’s take. “Luca is a great director,” he said. “He’s never made a bad movie.”
“American Psycho” actor Justin Theroux also approves of Guadagnino‘s reboot. Theroux told Vulture that 25 years later, “American Psycho” is just as relevant. He said that it is the “perfect time” for a remake, adding, “It sounds like they’re putting together an interesting team of people and actors. I’m usually not into remakes, but once I heard who is involved, I thought that could be really good. Maybe it’s a perfect time to retell that story. Whenever you get more time away from an era, you have more perspective on it. The truth or the lies come into more relief, so it might be easier to satirize.”
