An apple and a can of tuna a day: 20 years later, we’re still not over this star’s physical transformation

Some actors put a lot of effort into their roles. But Christian Bale is undoubtedly the one who underwent a physical transformation to play the character on screen. This character was Trevor, a paranoid and insomniac employee in the feature film The Machinist, which was released in theaters in 2005.

28 kilograms less

For The Machinist, Christian Bale, who recently admitted that it was his dream to play a certain character in the Star Wars saga, lost weight. A lot of weight. After filming Equilibrium, a movie in which he has the same impressive muscles as in American Psycho, the actor lost… 28 kilos!

To prepare for his role in The Machinist, Christian Bale clearly put himself in danger, because he ate a can of tuna and an apple a day (!) for three months and reached a critical weight of 55 kilograms. The actor would have lost even 45 kilos, if the producers had not encouraged him to stop for health reasons.

“Christian was starved, exhausted, to approach his character’s state of mind”– says director Brad Anderson. “It was a bit scary at times. I insisted on him getting medical attention. (…) Sometimes, to play the scene better, he didn’t sleep for the previous two nights.”

Michael Ironside, who stars in The Machinist, has revealed an incredible anecdote about Christian Bale’s weight loss for the film. “I remember one day, one morning, I came to work, we were shooting in Barcelona”he says. “Suddenly I heard: “Pssst! Michael!” It was Christian who said, ‘Can you watch this?’ Then he turned around and pulled down his pants. He was naked underneath.”

“Your butt is literally falling off!”

“She lost an awful lot of weight for her character”Ironside continues. “He’s like, ‘Can you look at my butt?’ I think there’s a problem.” They were really completely melting, falling off. I said, “Your butt is literally falling off.” “What do you mean by that?” I said, “You’re overreacting and now you’re losing muscle elasticity altogether.” He turned around and I didn’t know how he would react to what I just told him. He said “Cool!”

After this performance, which to be honest is a bit scary (especially if you’ve seen the movie), Christian Bale, true to his reputation, will put on all the weight (and more) for Batman Begins. Did you say you threw yourself headlong into the role?

#FunFacts Christian Bale: Did you know he was cast on Titanic?