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Post by Tuulia on Apr 11, 2017 20:48:23 GMT
Gillian Armstrong
“He is not only a wonderful actor with great screen presence,” says Little Women director Gillian Armstrong, “but he has a good soul – and that comes through.”
(USA Today, Nov20 1996)
***
from Little Women dvd, director's commentary:
I mentioned before that Winona had recommended Christian Bale. He came in and tested, and did a wonderful test. I saw many other up and coming young Hollywood actors, and the thing that Christian has that was really unique... and actually I was quite shocked at how few of the young American actors could actually play period dialogue. And Christian, because he's English, I think that - because obviously the dialogue in early America was much more British - he had no problem with those rhythms. And also he had the right.... although we did have to tell him to stop skateboarding or snowboarding or whatever he was doing to get rid of his suntan. But so many American actors were heavily sun-tanned and pumped up and they could never believably suit that period. I think that Christian has a face that can go back in time, you know, he's very believably part of the 18 hundreds. But also as an actor, he has an incredible range. He had to play a boy, and then go through the whole stretch of being the playboy and the bitter lover, and finally a man. He was one of the few that could do it, no one stood out with it as much as Christian. And he was also a joy to work with.
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Post by RhodoraO on Apr 12, 2017 3:45:04 GMT
I loved reading Gillian's comments about Christian. Is this online?
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Post by Tuulia on Apr 12, 2017 13:00:31 GMT
I loved reading Gillian's comments about Christian. Is this online? I don't know. It might be, but I didn't search. I have the dvd and it's there.
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Post by The Low Dweller on Apr 14, 2017 11:06:43 GMT
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Post by Tuulia on Apr 14, 2017 22:44:45 GMT
A comment from Manny The Movie Guy who interviewed CB at a junket for The Promise. The comment and the interview video are also posted on The Promise thread. source
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Post by Tuulia on Apr 14, 2017 23:34:51 GMT
Angela Sarafyan & Charlotte Le Bon
[CLB is asked about sending both Isaac and CB emails before doing The Promise and what the responses were - Isaac's very quick, CB's non-existent, which got her even more nervous I take it - so she retells that story she already told at TIFF. --- I suspect CB may never even have seen said email, and he's just not an email-kinda-guy. I also think she should have told him that it bothered her there was no response to the email and asked him about it directly rather than talk about that in press conferences and interviews instead. --- Anyway, AS is surprised there was no response or any mention of it later, that apparently doesn't fit her impression of him, and here's the continuation:] AS: I've met him, he seems so... sweet. We didn't work together, but he seems like a very kind person. CLB: He's very centered, and he talks a lot, but it's always very interesting. He's very smart, and he's super funny - he can be really silly, too, which I really liked, to keep a good balance between the two. And I was probably his best audience. I was laughing all the time each time I was working with him. video
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Post by Tuulia on Apr 15, 2017 16:29:39 GMT
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Post by Tuulia on Apr 15, 2017 16:49:42 GMT
David O. RussellDavid Poland: Christian, in real life, whatever real life is in show business... He seems incredibly happy and relaxed and kinda easy these days. Maybe because of you he seems to have like really dug in, actually in both of the pictures he has up this year, kind of found a place where he can really do his work, like he is just kind of free to actually do it now. DOR: He's a huge-hearted person, and he's a very intense person. He's an extremely smart person. As smart as any filmmaker I've ever met. He's just a writer. He's just really ahead of the curve in terms of thinking of story and character. I love being a director, if not the director, who can bring out in addition to Christian's intensity, his soulfulness, his warmth, his silliness, his vulnerability, his romantic side, you know, his vulnerable man side. I kinda love seeing all those colors with him that we saw in The Fighter and we see again here. And he's got a warmth about him. And Irving is a warm guy. That's what Amy says, her character, she sees in him when she meets him. He has this warmth and this confidence that just reaches her, and Christian inhabits that as a human being, and this character inhabits that. Women find him very compelling or attractive, and that's kinda interesting. video - DP/30: David O. Russell - American Hustle*** Esquire, Dec. 10, 2014
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Post by Tuulia on Apr 15, 2017 19:05:51 GMT
Amy AdamsI had read with Christian when they were testing the Batmans. [---] So I had worked with Christian, so to speak. [---] I remember when we did Christian’s test, I started crying. And Chris Nolan’s like “You don’t... You shouldn’t need to cry in this scene. You don’t need to do that.” and I was like “I know.” But he was so good, and so powerful. He had such a personal connection, I don’t know what it was, with the character that really… It moved me. video - DP/30: The Fighter, Amy Adams*** He's 100% committed. Not just his physical transformation, but he brings so much humor and so much warmth to this character that could be easily unlikable. Working with Christian is a fantastic experience that every actor should get to have. video - The Fighter: Christian Bale featurette*** San Francisco Chronicle, Dec. 12, 2010 *** Variety, Nov. 26, 2013*** [on CB:] Vanity Fair, January 2014*** David Poland: Do you and Christian work in similar ways? A: I think we work in a way that sort of honors the other, but we don't work the same way. But I think it's very compatible. DP: Lately he seems very happy in general. A: He's great. DP: And it seems like he's just doing some of the best work of his career. A: He's just fantastic. And he works... when I say it's intense it's not as though he stays in character. It's not as though he's walking around and talking, saying the lines, being the person. He just takes on the mannerisms of the character, and sort of the energy. He has like a shifted energy when he's the character. But I love that because there's no transition in and out of a scene with him. We're just in it, you know, you're just in it with him. And it's special. video - DP/30: Amy Adams on American Hustle*** The Guardian, Jan. 8, 2015*** Playback: Live From the Telluride Film Festival With Amy AdamsVariety, Sep. 8, 2016Variety podcast - audio @ 00:37:08 Kristopher Tapley: One of the film makers I mentioned there was David O. Russell. You're on the record about the difficulty of working on American Hustle and working with David. A: Sure. KT: I'm just curious if that means you're not interested in working with David again. A: I'm kind of a never say never kind of person, but not currently. It's just... what it requires of me... it's harder for me than... to kind of be the mum I wanna be, because I can't give that much energy and emotion to... and I'm really invested on set, so it's not as though... it's not something I'm not interested in doing on other sets, but the way he works just requires a different part of me that I just don't have to give right now. But that's not to say never. And maybe, I don't know, maybe since I've gone on record he's not gonna want to work with me, so... maybe it's sort of a non-issue. KT: Maybe. He seems to have had his tiffs with actors that he has worked with... A: I don't think I'm the first person, probably not the last. But he does create wonderful characters for women and I really value that. And he's given me a lot of opportunity to sort of change people's perception and expectations of me, and I really appreciate that. So I don't in any way... What happened doesn't take away from how much I value how much he provided for me in opportunity, not only to work with him, but to work with Christian twice, and to work with the amazing casts that I got to work with, so gratitude overrides any sort of other thing.
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Post by Tuulia on Apr 15, 2017 19:18:15 GMT
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Post by Tuulia on Apr 15, 2017 20:08:08 GMT
Mel WeinbergThe Telegraph, Dec. 16, 2013----- Production Designer Judy Becker and Costume Designer Michael Wilkinsonvideo - DP/30: American Hustle, Production & Costume Design (21:40-24:30)----- [excerpts from an article The Hair Stories Behind American Hustle] comments by American Hustle makeup-department head, Evelyne Noraz, and hair-department head, Katherine GordonEvelyne Noraz: Katherine Gordon: NY mag, Dec. 10, 2013*** [Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Awards] Deadline, Feb. 15, 2014----- Jeremy RennerIt's like an all-star team. It's pretty effortless, especially my experience with Christian, who I worked with pretty much mostly in this movie. It was just easy, man, like bread and butter, it just goes well together. To improvise is not an easy thing, but with Christian it was very easy. Everything was just smooth, man, like an old Cadillac. And you can rely... like, I knew he leaned on me a few times, and I leaned on him many times, and it's great, man, it's a good feeling when someone's got your back. And David's always got your back. video----- Bradley CooperVariety, Nov. 26, 2013*** video...I just shot American Hustle and Christian Bale played Irving Rosenfeld, and I remember when I met Christian three or four weeks before we started shooting. We would do the table read, and then he was Christian again. The next day, that was it, I never heard Christian again. He was Christian though, he just sounded like Irving Rosenfeld, this guy from Brooklyn... or the Bronx. And then I understood it, because you always hear about actors who are method and are in character the whole movie, and I never understood that, because all of a sudden it's a light and if it's a period I would have to go to the hospital, because I'm flipping out. I never understood that. But oh no, there's a middle ground. He's just staying in his voice, but Christian and I talked about his family, and you know, setting up a shot. And that just maybe gave me the confidence that I can do this, because it's all about conserving energy. That's all you're trying to do, to conserve your energy, so that you can bring it between "action" and "cut."
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Post by Tuulia on Apr 15, 2017 20:48:18 GMT
Todd Lieberman (Producer of The Fighter) I guess my stock answer now for any project we're doing is that I want to keep working with Christian Bale, he says on his dream casting. He was so good in The Fighter and is such an awesome actor, I'll put him in anything. He completely 100 per cent embodied Dickie Eklund. It was really fascinating to watch. my old link doesn't take me to it anymore - help? www.sfx.co.uk/2011/11/09/robert-zemeckis-exits-here-there-be-mo nsters/ ADMIN EDIT:From www.thehollywoodnews.com/2011/11/09/here-there-be-monsters-but-no-zemeckis/Upcoming fantastical alternate history monster movie (try saying that five times fast) HERE THERE BE MONSTERS has lost its director. Robert Zemeckis, left, who brought us such classics as the BACK TO THE FUTURE trilogy and WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT, is no longer ‘officially involved’ in the project, according to producer Todd Lieberman. The film follows the story of naval officer John Paul Jones during the American Revolution, but with a subtle twist. Instead of being a historically accurate, powerful biopic created purely to win a few Oscars, scriptwriter Brian Helgeland has chucked in a bunch of big, scary sea monsters. While still in the very early stages of pre-production, Lieberman already has eyes set on an actor to play Jones: ‘I want to keep working with Christian Bale. He was so good in THE FIGHTER and is such an awesome actor, I’ll put him in anything.----- Michael Dell'OrtoThe link I had (below) seems to be dead. Help? www.ledgertranscript.com/news/townbytown/wilton/3893881-95/dell-orto-actors-awards----- Matt Damonthis link is dead, too, sigh... help? www.moviehole.net/201142676-matt-damon-talks-adjustment-bureau-dvdbd-losing-the-fighter-superman-iiADMIN EDIT:Archived link for above: web-beta.archive.org/web/20110903233645/http://www.moviehole.net/201142676-matt-damon-talks-adjustment-bureau-dvdbd-losing-the-fighter-superman-iiThe same mention (but not the full quote) can also be found at: www.digitalspy.com/movies/news/a328431/matt-damon-christian-bale-was-right-for-the-fighter/
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Post by Tuulia on Apr 15, 2017 22:04:43 GMT
Richard Farrell (one of the makers of the 1995 documentary High on Crack Street: Lost Lives in Lowell, featuring Dicky Eklund)
video (He tells it better than I write it, so watch if you can. I kinda love this story.) I'll never forget the first time that I met Christian Bale. I was told to meet in Lowell, at a hotel. I think it was around May 15, 2009. They said they wanted me to bring Christian around for a couple of days. They said "Now Richie, we know you like to have a lot of fun. But. Christian, he's British, you've heard about his meltdown on Youtube, so kinda take it slow. Don't be too... joking around." So, I get there, he gets into SUV, got his hat on. And I have a picture of my son up over. So he puts his seat belt on, and he looks up, and he says in his British accent "Is that your son?" I say yeah, and he says "How many do you have?" and I say "I have five. All with different wives." And he was going... and he looked up, started laughing. And from that point on he's the greatest guy I could ever meet. He's just a super guy. And this whole... He said something to me. And my son Will is in the military, and he was home on leave during the filming, in August. And we were leaving, I brought Will and his girlfriend to the set and we were leaving. And Christian... It was between takes, and Christian was getting back in the car, and he saw me leaving, and he says "hey Richie." We were shaking hands, and I said "may I introduce... here's my son Will, from the military." He shook his hand, and he said, "Will, your dad is the reason why we are all here." Now, whether that's true or not, I don't know. But this whole thing started from High On Crack Street, the documentary film I made for HBO, about Dicky Eklund who Christian plays in the movie. I hope that I had something to do with this film - I don't think it's the reason it's made is because of me, for sure. But... Christian Bale was one of the nicest guys that I've ever worked with.
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Post by Tuulia on Apr 16, 2017 3:29:31 GMT
Thanks, RhodoraO.
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Post by Tuulia on Apr 18, 2017 16:34:39 GMT
Charlotte Bon[after repeating the e-mail story] When I met him... He's really, really impressive, but in the end I think he's probably one of the most professional actors I've ever worked with. He's super respectful, very generous, super funny. He's always on set, he never keeps people waiting. It's very impressive to see. video
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