Adam McKay"...so really the guy I didn't really know was Christian Bale, and we were just having the best time, it was just so much fun, and he of course blew me away every day with his characterization that he did, this character that he created, but most of all just really collaborative, just really grounded, and we ended up laughing quite a bit together. I would work with him any time. He was just, that was just a pleasure.
[...]
The first thing I do is... I'll use Christian Bale as example since he was the guy I didn't know as much. So, I just told him, look here's how I work. I come from this improv background, I'm not gonna be doing as much of that on this, but I will be doing a little bit. So basically what I have is microphone, but I don't yell into it, it's very low key, it's very calm, and there'll be times when occasionally I say, "hey try this line, or what if you did this." If that doesn't work for you, let me know and we'll come up with another way. He goes "no, that should be fine." And then I said what I like to do is two or three takes, and then I'll come to check in with you, kinda see how we're feeling. I just went down the whole thing, and he was completely cool with everything I said.
[...]
So we're just kicking around intentions what would doctor Burry be thinking here, and kinda just trying stuff on for size. The great thing with Bale is, he has become the character, so anything he does is grounded and stated, so it's all just really about what the character's focus is, is kinda what you're dealing with, with him, for the most part.
[...]
We spoke quite a bit. I was encouraging him to go to the real person, because I know there's nothing better than the specifics of the real person. He agreed. But we both agreed we weren't going be trapped by any of it. If there was anything that threw him off he had the room to kinda play. He hit it off with doctor Burry right away. I mean they hung out for like 14 hours, doctor Burry gave him some of his clothes and they got really, really close. So we would speak and he would talk about how he was seeing the character, I would give him my impression of the character, from talking to doctor Burry, and I'd go "I see him like this, I think what's difficult for a guy like this is he is on the spectrum, so the world is painful sometimes, so he needs the comfort of the numbers, because there's order to that, he's safe there" and Bale would go "Oh, that's interesting, but I also think he likes it sometimes..." We would just have these discussions. And then when he showed up on set, that's the first time we did a camera test, then he kinda showed the whole shebang, like, here he is, for the first time, and I'm seeing him walk in front of me, and like holy crap, this is amazing. And then after a couple of takes in the first scene you can see him kinda rev up, and suddenly it was like, he's The Guy. It was incredible. And every take you do with him, he's The Guy."
video - DP/30: Adam McKay, The Big Short
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Adam McKay marveled at Bale's complete immersion in the role. "Burry and Bale share this bond where they're both just about the work," says the director. "The amount of focus and detail Christian brings to his character is jaw dropping. The first day of shooting, I saw him dial in that character and boom! He was Michael Burry for the rest of the movie, capturing his rhythms and physicality. About halfway through working with Christian, I asked if he was tired of me saying, 'Great take.'"
One example of Bale's laser-like focus was his ability to power through the heavy metal drumming sequence despite a severe knee injury sustained while bouncing on a trampoline with his kids.
"Christian kept telling everyone, 'I'm fine, I'm fine,' and then you saw his knee and it was gigantic," McKay recalls. "He tore everything - his ACL, his MCL, his patella, his meniscus, something else I'd never even heard of, so I told him, 'That's it - you're not playing the drums, we're getting a double.'" But Bale, who had learned to play the drums in just two weeks for the role, insisted on doing the scene himself. "He performs the whole scene, nails it perfectly, then limps off the set afterwards. As far as dealing with pain, it's one of the most incredible things I've ever seen."
thefilmgeekguy.blogspot.fi/2016/01/christian-bale-oscars-the-big-short.html***
Q: Among your strong ensemble in "The Big Short," Christian Bale is so fantastic in his isolated presence as the brilliant, tender Dr. Michael Burry. How much time did you get to work with Bale?
A: I think it was nine or ten days. His character was completely isolated in the story, basically never left his office. It was amazing because we got to just bear down on his character, and you also have someone who is walking in the building who has done so much prep and got the real clothes from the real guy. He asked for a little liver spot on his face that the real guy had. If you look closely, Bale has a couple marks on his face that he asked make-up people to put in. I had never seen anything like it. He left, and we were like, “You’ve got to be kidding me.” He really became the guy.
Q: And you got him to truly play the drums too, in one of the film’s best scenes.
A: That was insane. Two days before we start shooting, he’s playing around with his kids on a trampoline with his kids back in LA. Trampolines, doctors call them injury machines. He lands wrong and his whole knee goes WONK! I hear that he twisted his knee. He comes to New Orleans, and it’s huge, and I said, “You didn’t twist your knee, you tore something.” And he said, “Oh no, no, it’s gonna be fine, gonna be fine.” And I said, “You can’t do the drums, we need a double.” And he said, “No, no, it’s gonna be fine, gonna be fine.” And I got him to go a doctor, who told him that he tore his ACL, MCL, patella, meniscus, and something else I’ve never heard of. Completely shredded his knee. I go, “There’s no way you’re playing the drums,” and he said, “I am playing the drums.” The scene you see him doing, he’s got a devastated knee, he’s doing double kick-drums, [playing] Pantera. Insane. He really is a superhuman individual.
People Are Smart: Adam McKay On The Big Short***
"Christian is amazing. Christian has a work ethic like I've never seen. He's a little bit like Michael Burry in the sense that Michael Burry is all about the work, and that's the way Christian is. There's no air of being an important actor, there's no giant entourage, there's no diva-like stuff, it's all about the work, and he and Burry really hit it off. They really ended up having a great time together, and Burry really loved Bale and Bale loved Burry, and I think they shared that bond that they're all just about the work."
video ***
And
here is what he said about CB at The Big Short DGA Q&A with Adam McKay and Bob Balaban
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(Carell and McKay:)
“Before we started, I'd call [writer-director] Adam [McKay]… and I said, ‘How's it going?’ and he said, ‘Oh, my God. Christian Bale is incredible,’” Carell told ABC’s Chris Connelly in an interview for “Nightline.” “And I'm back in L.A. going ‘Oh, God. Oh, no.’”
“Everyone had that reaction,” added Adam McKay, laughing.
The first two weeks of shooting the film only involved Bale and his big solo scenes. For the director and crew, it was love at first take.
“The first two weeks were all Christian," McKay said. "And the crew and all of us fell in love with Christian, and stupidly, I would tell these guys that… ‘[Bale is] so grounded and specific and he's so collaborative, and footage looks beautiful,’ and Steve's like, ‘Remember when we did ‘Anchorman’?’”
abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/steve-carell-adam-mckay-joke-big-short-cast/story?id=35703757YT video of the above----------
Steve Carell
In the film, Christian Bale plays Dr. Michael Burry, a partly blind stock market investor with a penchant for gratingly loud music, flailing on his drum kit and working alone. Did any of you hear about what he was up to during his nine days of filming his mostly one-man scenes?
CARELL I was in touch with Adam before I came out to New Orleans to talk about the character. You know, “I’m trying this,” and “What about that?” And I asked, “How’s it going with Christian?” And he says, “Unbelievable. He learned to play double-kick drums.” Then I thought, Oh, so I’m up next? That was a little intimidating.
NY Times / Actors of ‘The Big Short’ Talk About the Debt Crisis, in Beverly Hills***
"I am still pinching myself that I'm in a film with Christian Bale," pipes Carell. "He's a phenomenal actor and such a good guy; I didn't get to meet him until we started doing press and he's so smart, funny and self-deprecating. He's unbelievably good in the movie too. I'm a huge fan.
"Bale's a consummate perfectionist," he continues. "Before I started filming, I talked to Adam McKay on the phone about character stuff and Christian had already started. He was talking about how great he was doing, how everyone loved him and how he had this fully formed character. I thought, 'Oh my gosh, I'm going to get on set and just stink comparatively'. It's intimidating to be in a movie with somebody like that."
link***
“To be side to side with Christian Bale is a pretty nice [place?] to be,” says Steve Carell, as warmly as you would expect. “I never met him until we started doing press for the movie, what a smart and charming [man?]... I find him to be a warm, incredibly kind person. Apart from being a wonderful actor, he seems like a great family man. I really liked him a lot.”
link(NB: I was trying to guess [and add] the words missing from the messily done transcript on the site.)
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Michael BurryRegarding Bale's characterization, Burry said he spent about 12 hours with the actor over the course of several phone calls and meetings, and he's pleased with the outcome.
"Christian is an incredibly professional actor," Burry said. "I certainly can't be unhappy with his portrayal or effort he put in."
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Am I doing this stuff okay? Any suggestions for improving, or requests?