Christian Bale Crash Diets For Role?
Jul. 14 2009, Published 3:15 p.m. ET
We know Christian Bale is devoted when it comes to his craft: the cult hero actor has spurned big paydays for indie flicks, went off on a on a tirade on a production worker who crossed his line of sight on the set of Terminator Salvation and became scarey slim for his work in 2004's The Machinist.
Seems like he's at it again -- the dramatic weight loss, at least.
The 35-year-old star was seen in these shots taken Monday, taken just nine days removed from one another, looking noticeably gaunt and frail, presumably for his part as a boxer-turned-drug addict in The Fighter.
"I've had to lose a great deal of weight because he was a welterweight," he told MTV last month.
Bale isn’t the first actor to undergo dramatic physical changes for a boxing role: Robert DeNiro added 60 pounds of fat to play Jake LaMotta in 1980’s Raging Bull, while Will Smith added 35 pounds of muscle to play legendary Muhammad Ali in 2001’s Ali.