Christian Bale reveals being paid ‘less than the makeup artists’ for this iconic role

Christian Bale recalled his earlier days of struggle in the acting business as he scrambled to support his family.

In a previous interview with GQ, The Dark Knight star had revealed that he was being paid ‘absolute minimum wage’ while he was supporting his family. Sharing his pay cheque from the 2000 cult-classic, American Psycho, the actor was paid even less than the makeup artists.

“I’d taken so long trying to do it,” he told the outlet of his acting gigs. “And they had paid me the absolute minimum they were legally allowed to pay me.”

Bale recounted that at the time, he shared a house with his dad and sister which was getting repossessed. So, when the actor got the role, his first priority was to have enough to save his home.

“The first thing was: ‘Holy crap. I’ve got to get a bit of money,’ because I’ve got American Psycho done,” he recounted. “But I remember one time sitting in the makeup trailer and the makeup artists were laughing at me because I was getting paid less than any of them. And so that was my motivation after that. Was just: “I got to get enough that the house doesn’t get repossessed.”

The American Hustle actor, 49, told the outlet that he has always supported his family since he had been 12, 13 years old, which was one of the reasons that pushed him into getting acting gigs regardless of what the role had been.

“It’s always been there, that element to it. There was never a moment where it was like, ‘I think I’d like to take four years off.’ No. That just isn’t gonna happen. That’s not possible.”

However, once the movie became a hit, the actor went on to do several roles which came to him as a choice. His movies such as The Prestige, The Machinist, American Hustle and The Dark Knight trilogy are just some of the hits among many.