+

Cookies on the Business Insider India website

Business Insider India has updated its Privacy and Cookie policy. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the better experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we\'ll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Insider India website. However, you can change your cookie setting at any time by clicking on our Cookie Policy at any time. You can also see our Privacy Policy.

Close
HomeQuizzoneWhatsappShare Flash Reads
 

Christian Bale Is Unrecognizable In 'American Hustle' After 43-Pound Weight Gain

Dec 17, 2013, 02:40 IST

Christian Bale is no stranger to altering his appearance for a role.

Advertisement

He has often shed weight for films, whittling himself down to one third of his body weight in one instance. But Bale's latest role has him going to the other weight extreme.

Here's what the 39-year-old looks like normally, at "The Dark Knight Rises" premiere with his wife, Sibi, in July 2012:

Ian Gavan/Getty

For his role as an industrial worker who hasn't slept in a year in 2004's "The Machinist," Bale lost 63 pounds by living on a diet of apples, coffee and cigarettes:

Advertisement

"The Machinist"/Paramount Classics

For 2010's "The Fighter," Bale again lost weight to play a boxer-turned-drug addict. He won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role portraying Dicky Eklund:

"The Fighter"

For his latest role as a '70s con man-turned-FBI agent in "American Hustle," Bale went to the other weight extreme and packed on 43 pounds.

"I ate lots of doughnuts, a whole lot of cheeseburgers and whatever I could get my hands on. I literally ate anything that came my way," Bale revealed to People magazine. "I was about 185 and went up to 228."

Advertisement

Here's Bale with his clothes on in "American Hustle":

Francois Duhamel / Sony Pictures

But underneath that checkered suit was Bale's newfound belly:

Sony/"American Hustle"

Let's zoom in on that, shall we?

Advertisement

Sony/"American Hustle"


But Bale's 8-year-old daughter approved of his new look: "She found it funny. Having a big old gut and a bald head, she would slap it and tease me. She had lots of fun and found it amusing."

Bale, meanwhile, has struggled to take off the weight since filming ended, telling People "I'm still working it off."

Bale displayed his latest look at a screening in NYC earlier this month:

Ilya S. Savenok/Getty

Advertisement

But remember when the "American Psycho" star looked like this?

"American Psycho"

"American Psycho"

Next Article