Christian Bale Quotes On Conquering Fear And Striving For Success

Whether you know him best as Batman or Patrick Bateman in American Psycho, Christian Bale stands as one of the great actors of his generation. His ability to adapt and transform himself into different characters is no doubt impressive. Bale’s dedication and work ethic are something to talk about, and also something we can learn a little more about by reading Christian Bale quotes.

Born in Wales, Bale was an actor since he was a child, making his debut at just 13 years old in Steven Spielberg’s Empire of the Sun. This landed Bale in various successful films, like Little Women (1994) and the iconic American Psycho (2000.)

However, Bale truly marvels many at his devotion to every character he plays. So much so, that posts of Bale’s commitment to roles have gone viral on social media. Side by side photos of Bale’s roles as a frail insomniac in The Machinist and as a stout Dick Cheney in Vice were a visual showcase of just how deep Bale dives into roles, mentally and physically.

Christian Bale quotes

With such incredible performances (and Oscars to match) under his belt, Christian Bale probably has some fascinating insight on life, acting, and how to achieve one’s goals. Thankfully, Christian Bale quotes are here to help us get to know the man behind all these award-winning movie characters.

Enjoy this collection of Christian Bale quotes on life, pushing your limits, and striving for greatness.

“I tend to think you’re fearless when you recognize why you should be scared of things, but do them anyway.”
“I have a fear of being boring.”
“I mean, first of all, let me say whichever superhero first came up with the idea of wearing a cape, he wasn’t really onto anything good. The number of times I’m treading on that damn thing or I throw a punch and it ends up covering my whole head. It’s really not practical.”
“There have been many times when you spend a number of months and the finished product is not what you wanted to see. And ‘Batman Begins’ was what I wanted to see.”
“It’s got to do with putting yourself in other people’s shoes and seeing how far you can come to truly understand them. I like the empathy that comes from acting.”
“I find something fascinating about the quiet man in the background who has no desire to be the center of attention.”
“Nuclear apocalypse – who do you need? Actors are probably not top of the list. What can I do for you? I can pretend to be somebody who can grow you some nice crops.”
“All of the muscles were gone, so that was a real tough time of rebuilding all of that. But you have a deadline, you have an obligation. You’ve said that you will commit to this part, and I just can’t live with myself for not really giving it as much as I can.”
“Working out is incredibly boring. I swear it’s true that the bigger your muscles get, the fewer brain cells you have.”
“An actor should never be larger than the film he’s in.”
“I’ve had some painful experiences in my life, but I feel like I’m trivializing them by using them for a scene in a movie. I don’t want to do that. It just makes me feel kind of dirty for having done that.”
“I only sound intelligent when there’s a good scriptwriter around.”
“3:10 to Yuma was one that I just kept on talking and thinking about after reading it. And I think the reason is that, like in most Westerns, you have the very clear-cut bad-guy/good-guy, however, as the movie progresses, you kind of see that it’s a very fine line that divides these two.”
“Essentially, I’m untrained, so I just go with my imagination and try to put myself as solidly as I can into the shoes of whatever person I’m going to be playing.”
“Whatever you do, do it completely. Don’t do it half-arsed. Do it more than anybody else would.”
“If you’re doing your job properly, you take the risk of feeling slightly foolish and delve in and bring out the emotions.”
“I think trying too hard to be sexy is the worst thing in the world a woman can do.”
“The art of survival is a story that never ends.”
“I never want to feel that I’m playing it safe.”
“The only thing that I’m obsessed with is sleeping, and actually, it is more than an obsession, it is a pleasure.”
“If everyone really knew what a jerk I am in real life, I wouldn’t be so adored in the slightest.”
“…I learned that there’s a certain character that can be built from embarrassing yourself endlessly. If you can sit happy with embarrassment, there’s not much else that can really get to ya.”
“It’s the actors who are prepared to make fools of themselves who are usually the ones who come to mean something to the audience.”
“It’s about pursuing it rather than waiting to see what comes along. That’s partly because I found myself getting typecast, as everyone does unless they pursue roles that are very different from what they’ve done before.”
“In everyday life, my wife is the most wonderful. We’re in love with each other beyond belief.”
“I’m English. Our dentistry is not world-famous.”
“I don’t think I’m like any of the characters I’ve played – they’re all really far from who I am.”
“All I’ve ever ended up with in terms of achievements is the movie, some really stupid anecdotes, a bunch of crosswords that I didn’t finish, and maybe some old bicycle that I found lying around on set.”
I like the idea of movies having a magic element. How many times have you seen an actor in a movie who you know only as the character? It’s wonderful, isn’t it?
“I don’t want to know about the lives of other actors and I don’t want people to know too much about me. If we don’t know about the private lives of other actors, that leaves us as clean slates when it comes to playing characters. That’s the point, they can create these other characters and I can believe them.”
“What the hell kind of man decides to dress up as a bat and run around the city? There’s got to be something a little bit loose in there.”
“I started my career without fans.”
“I never want to turn something down because I’m afraid to do it, because of some idea or image or whatever. That was never anything I set out to do. In fact, the opposite, I always want to confuse people in terms of any kind of image and be unpredictable in any kind of movie I make.”
“In terms of the romantic kind of lead, I just never enjoy those movies very much. Maybe they’ll come to interest me more as I get older. I doubt it, but maybe. Romantic comedies tend to be, for me, an oxymoron.”
“‘Batman’ took 10 months to film, and by the time I stopped working on it, it took a long time before my English accent came out again. I was actually having to try for it.”

Christian Bale Quotes On Conquering Fear And Striving For Success

Enjoy this collection of Christian Bale quotes on life, pushing your limits, and striving for greatness.

“I tend to think you’re fearless when you recognize why you should be scared of things, but do them anyway.”

“I have a fear of being boring.”

“I mean, first of all, let me say whichever superhero first came up with the idea of wearing a cape, he wasn’t really onto anything good. The number of times I’m treading on that damn thing or I throw a punch and it ends up covering my whole head. It’s really not practical.”

“There have been many times when you spend a number of months and the finished product is not what you wanted to see. And ‘Batman Begins’ was what I wanted to see.”

“It’s got to do with putting yourself in other people’s shoes and seeing how far you can come to truly understand them. I like the empathy that comes from acting.”

“I find something fascinating about the quiet man in the background who has no desire to be the center of attention.”

“Nuclear apocalypse – who do you need? Actors are probably not top of the list. What can I do for you? I can pretend to be somebody who can grow you some nice crops.”

“All of the muscles were gone, so that was a real tough time of rebuilding all of that. But you have a deadline, you have an obligation. You’ve said that you will commit to this part, and I just can’t live with myself for not really giving it as much as I can.”

“Working out is incredibly boring. I swear it’s true that the bigger your muscles get, the fewer brain cells you have.”

“An actor should never be larger than the film he’s in.”

“I’ve had some painful experiences in my life, but I feel like I’m trivializing them by using them for a scene in a movie. I don’t want to do that. It just makes me feel kind of dirty for having done that.”

“I only sound intelligent when there’s a good scriptwriter around.”

“3:10 to Yuma was one that I just kept on talking and thinking about after reading it. And I think the reason is that, like in most Westerns, you have the very clear-cut bad-guy/good-guy, however, as the movie progresses, you kind of see that it’s a very fine line that divides these two.”

“Essentially, I’m untrained, so I just go with my imagination and try to put myself as solidly as I can into the shoes of whatever person I’m going to be playing.”

“Whatever you do, do it completely. Don’t do it half-arsed. Do it more than anybody else would.”

“If you’re doing your job properly, you take the risk of feeling slightly foolish and delve in and bring out the emotions.”

“I think trying too hard to be sexy is the worst thing in the world a woman can do.”

“The art of survival is a story that never ends.”

“I never want to feel that I’m playing it safe.”

“The only thing that I’m obsessed with is sleeping, and actually, it is more than an obsession, it is a pleasure.”

“If everyone really knew what a jerk I am in real life, I wouldn’t be so adored in the slightest.”

“…I learned that there’s a certain character that can be built from embarrassing yourself endlessly. If you can sit happy with embarrassment, there’s not much else that can really get to ya.”

“It’s the actors who are prepared to make fools of themselves who are usually the ones who come to mean something to the audience.”

“It’s about pursuing it rather than waiting to see what comes along. That’s partly because I found myself getting typecast, as everyone does unless they pursue roles that are very different from what they’ve done before.”

“In everyday life, my wife is the most wonderful. We’re in love with each other beyond belief.”

“I’m English. Our dentistry is not world-famous.”

“I don’t think I’m like any of the characters I’ve played – they’re all really far from who I am.”

“All I’ve ever ended up with in terms of achievements is the movie, some really stupid anecdotes, a bunch of crosswords that I didn’t finish, and maybe some old bicycle that I found lying around on set.”

I like the idea of movies having a magic element. How many times have you seen an actor in a movie who you know only as the character? It’s wonderful, isn’t it?

“What the hell kind of man decides to dress up as a bat and run around the city? There’s got to be something a little bit loose in there.”

“I started my career without fans.”

“I never want to turn something down because I’m afraid to do it, because of some idea or image or whatever. That was never anything I set out to do. In fact, the opposite, I always want to confuse people in terms of any kind of image and be unpredictable in any kind of movie I make.”

“In terms of the romantic kind of lead, I just never enjoy those movies very much. Maybe they’ll come to interest me more as I get older. I doubt it, but maybe. Romantic comedies tend to be, for me, an oxymoron.”

“‘Batman’ took 10 months to film, and by the time I stopped working on it, it took a long time before my English accent came out again. I was actually having to try for it.”

We hope you enjoyed this collection of Christian Bale quotes. If you know anyone else who is a fan of this talented actor, share this article with them!

In this article:

Leave a Reply

You May Also Like