Bradley Cooper is crediting Christian Bale for inspiring his “American Sniper” performance. Cooper, who co-starred with Bale in David O. Russell’s “American Hustle,” said during the “Howard Stern Show” that he emulated Bale’s acting technique to portray real-life Texas-born Navy SEAL Chris Kyle.
Clint Eastwood’s “American Sniper” was released in 2015, two years after Cooper witnessed Bale’s “American Hustle” approach for the 2013 film. Bale famously Method acts, and according to Cooper, it was revolutionary to see how Bale built his performance while staying in character.
“So Christian Bale, I’m doing ‘American Hustle.’ I meet Christian Bale, I’m a big fan. And we’re sitting there, we do the table read,” Cooper said. “He’s from England. He’s Welsh, I think. He’s got his own accent. He’s reading it. He breaks into this guy, Irving Rosenfeld, who’s this Jewish guy from Long Island or the Bronx. He was in and out [of the accent]. And then the next day, he cuts his hair, he shaves his head. He’s gained all this weight already. And then the next day in rehearsal, all of a sudden he’s just talking like Irving Rosenfeld. And he talked like Irving Rosenfeld for the rest of the movie until the day we wrapped.”
Cooper added that Bale did not entirely lose himself in the role, though.
“I asked him about his kids. We talked about the shot. I call him Christian,” Cooper said. “It’s not like I had to call him Irving. But he needed to stay into the accent. And that’s what I did with [‘American Sniper’ character] Chris. It was just easier. It was actually less energy if I just talked like Chris the whole time.”
Cooper continued, “I would think how much energy I would be expending if I was my character. If I saw a cell phone, I would freak out. You know what I mean?”
And Bale does not employ that approach to all of his films: The actor told GQ that it would have been a “pitiful attempt” to apply Method techniques to Marvel film “Thor: Love and Thunder.” When asked if he used his Oscar-winning Method practice for his first foray into the MCU, Bale said, “That would’ve been a pitiful attempt to do that, as I’m trying to get help getting the fangs in and out and explaining I’ve broken a nail, or I’m tripping over the tunic.”
Bale added that he is “flat-out embarrassed” by the concept of acting and is “actually mortified” at times. “You know, I’m under no illusions either about the fact that the only reason I get noticed or feel useful in this world is when I pretend not to be me, right?” Bale said. “It’s a slow death. I’m having this very slow death in public. I like the insanity of the job itself. I guess it’s the idea of what people think an actor is that’s embarrassing. I mean, how many useful jobs are there, really, in life, where you’re helping other people? Am I just creating more stupid background noise? But the acting itself, I enjoy how ridiculous it is. I love something that you can just go too far with. People are fucking fascinating. I love people, I love watching people, and I get to watch them in a way that would otherwise be perceived as verging on extremely bizarre.”
