Christian Bale Gave Director Ridley Scott a ‘Fright’ After Being Cast in ‘Exodus: Gods and Kings’
Christian Bale worked with Alien director Ridley Scott on Exodus: Gods and Kings, which was an adaptation of the famous biblical story. But Bale thought Scott might have been freaked out by his star’s appearance for their feature.
Christian Bale felt that he made Ridley Scott panic because of his looks
Bale felt he might have made a bad impression after being cast in Scott’s biblical epic Exodus. The actor has been known to change his physique for his films. So physically, Bale didn’t think he had the look Scott wanted for his Moses. Bale put on a significant amount of weight to play his lead role in American Hustle.
Meanwhile, Moses was supposed to carry a much more slight physique. It didn’t help that Bale’s performance was going to follow Charlton Heston’s take on Moses in The Ten Commandments.
“I thought, ‘Not gonna do that.’ And I gave Ridley a fright because [Heston] was the iconic image of Moses, the long hair and the beard … and I had just made American Hustle, and I walked into his office and I was shaped like Santa Claus but I’d shaved my head with a razor,” Bale once recalled in an interview with Christian Science Monitor.
Bale remarked that he was actually impressed with Scott’s ability to hide his natural reaction at the actor’s Hustle body.
“Clearly he [Scott] is a better actor than me… he just went, ‘Hmmmm, very short hair,’” he said.
Christian Bale watched an old British parody to prepare for his role as Moses
Bale often goes to great lengths to make sure he does justice to the characters he plays. A part of his preparation process often includes doing research. For a character like Moses, with so many literary and theatrical sources to pull from, Bale had more than enough inspiration. He watched the classic The Ten Commandments for a few pointers. But when Bale got the part, he initially checked out another classic 1979 comedy flick.
Monty Python’s Life of Brian, which was directed by Terry Jones, was a film about a young man mistaken for Jesus. Bale watched the critically praised feature as a guideline of what not to do while playing Moses.
“It’s very easy when you’re making a film that has this sort of weight to it, you could unintentionally start making Life of Brian. We had takes when it became a bit Monty Python. It was good because we knew we had those red flags,” Bale said.
Christian Bale defended Ridley Scott over ‘Exodus’ casting controversy
Exodus received a bit of backlash for its cast. Many felt that Scott’s interpretation was being disingenuous by casting white actors in roles they believed were more appropriate for more ethnic actors. Especially with the film taking place in the Middle East and Africa.
The Batman Begins star addressed the controversy in an interview with The Guardian. And although he greatly sympathized with the films’ skeptics, he pointed out the casting situation wasn’t all that simple.
“I don’t think fingers should be pointed, but we should all look at ourselves and say, ‘Are we supporting wonderful actors in films by north African and Middle Eastern film-makers and actors, because there are some fantastic actors out there,” Bale said. “If people start supporting those films more and more, then financiers in the market will follow. The audience has to show financiers that they will be there, and [then] they could make a large-budget film.”
Scott also might not have been able to be make the film without the cast he picked.
“I can’t mount a film of this budget, where I have to rely on tax rebates in Spain, and say that my lead actor is Mohammad so-and-so from such-and-such. I’m just not going to get it financed. So the question doesn’t even come up,” Scott said.
