170 Inspirational Quotes By Christian Bale On Courage, Life, Family, Hope & Character

What I like about it is that I'm not somebody who's in movies. I'm a guy who's not very good going around the track with a bunch of guys who are a hell of a lot better.

  

I think there's a limited amount of planning you can do, at least in the position I'm in. Maybe more successful actors can plan more than I'm able to.

  

The blue collar milieu was something that I really understood and resonated with me and I thought was underrepresented in American cinema.

  

I'm an actor I'm not a politician. I always kick myself when I talk too much about family, or personal things.

  

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 was born in Wales but I'm not Welsh - I'm English.

  

I'm not really into musicals.

  

I don't ever really sit back and look at roles I've taken and look at any similarities.

  

I never applied to any acting schools. I don't know if that's just bad reporting, or - sometimes I just make stuff up.

  

Directors go their whole career without being able to tell personal stories and to work with a cast as talented as they are.

  

My hope is that people will be repulsed by the character's complete lack of ethics and obsession with consumerism - that's what I was saying about the difference between the character's message and the film's message.

Character

  

I won't kill you but I don't have to save you.

  

After the modest success of my first film, I found it very daunting to have to live with that kind of burden of expectations.

  

I've always felt that I would rather see an actor, writer, or musician's work, rather than actually know the person. If you know too much about an artist, it somehow lessens their ability to do their work as well.

  

I don't think I'm like any of the characters I've played. They're all really far from who I am.

Character

  

'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.

Trying

  

I certainly liked performing [Patrick Bateman], but it was because he thinks he's so [bloody] cool and just the [stuff], but is really such a cheesy dork.

  

You get those occasional moments when you're absolutely calm, and you've just done something that would have scared you shitless earlier that day, and you've just done it like it was nothing. I find that very relaxing.

  

For me, I think the harder the shoot, the more I feel like I'm enjoying myself.

  

There's a level of confidence in the actor you're working with that really helps a lot. It makes all the difference.

  

I don't get it when you get so much openness about the way movies are made, and the special effects and the behind-the-scenes stuff and all of that. I can't help but feel like this reduces it a little bit.

  

I quite like it when you're working with people and you only get to know them through the scenes that you're doing together.

Together

  

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.

Trying

  

Any planning that I have in my career is totally accidental really.

  

I don't have acknowledged preferences of characters.

Character

  

If you're smart you're just gonna be all about the work. But as a young person, you want to going out to clubs and doing all the stuff. I'm just glad I survived it.

  

It's not who I am underneath but what I do that defines me.

  

I become a bit of a blank page in public. And that's precisely why I like acting.

  

It's a wonderful thing when your trainer is actually the person you're playing.

  

I'm English. Our dentistry is not world famous. But I made sure I got moldings of my old teeth beforehand because I miss them.

  

I think the harder the shoot, the more I feel like I'm enjoying myself.

  

I think mostly it's the adventure that I will have in making the movie. That's what I look for.

  

Planning a career, I always find a tricky thing, because I don't have much of a plan, really.

  

I would have been very happy just cruising around and enjoying the unexpected. I've never been ambitious.

  

I'm not really looking forward to wearing a black rubber suit in the summertime in humid Chicago. If you see a pool of sweat through the city, follow it and you will find me.

  

You're creating a different world and the actor's job is to be able to convince the audience to enter into that world, whether it be actually something that you recognize from your own life or not.

  

It was just the two of us, inside there with just mirrors, all the way around us. Everywhere we looked, there were these two freaks, sitting at a table, eyeballing each other.

  

Look, I've got incredible pride for my family. I've absolutely fallen into that cliche of a dad who could just happily talk about my daughter endlessly.

  

I swear, the bigger your muscles get, the duller you are. You become fascinated with carbs and protein and ripped abs and things that are just not interesting at all.

  

Sometimes the truth isn't good enough. Sometimes people have got to have their faith rewarded.

  

As an actor, I don't feel like it's necessary to watch a great deal of films. In fact, I think it can lead to imitation and unhealthy competition, which just isn't needed.

  

The risk element only came from acknowledging other people's attitudes toward it, and realizing that they considered it to be a risk for me to do.

  

I'll find myself having dinner with people and someone will mention something and I will say I was in that situation once. Then I'll say, forget it, it was a scene I was in. That can get to be quite confusing.

  

I want to do good work. I want the opportunity to work with good people, and the only way I'm gonna do that is to commit 110% - you get out what you put in.

  

It's tough to make a good movie. I think the bigger the movies are, the worse they are. A lot of big movies make a lot of money and you kind of forget about what they are and they don't really make you think.

  

And being as I'm somebody who loves movies like The Machinist, I also love going along to big mass entertainment movies. I get in the mood for all kinds of movies, and so I like to try each of them.

Trying

  

In honesty, there are probably a lot of stories that can be told with Batman. I like the idea of him growing older and he can't quite do it as much anymore.

  

I seek … the means to fight injustice. To turn fear against those who prey on the fearful.

  

You say something bad about Newsies and you have an awful lot of people to answer to.

  

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.

  

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

  

You have to treat yourself like a mushroom to some degree, in order to keep on discovering things.

  

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.

  

But 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.

Character

  

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.

  

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 feel like I'm pretty good but I don't like to toot my own horn, you know. I want to let the work speak for itself and kind of move on to the next thing.

  

Were all conning ourselves, one way or another, just to get through life.

  

I never, in any city I've ever been in, never remember the names of streets. The longest place I ever lived in was for five years and I didn't know the name of the next street over.

  

I think it's important when you're acting to be as relaxed as possible even if you're doing something intense. You're basically in a state of dynamic relaxation.

  

There's nothing like boxing for getting you in shape.

  

You'll hunt me. You'll condemn me. Set the dogs on me. Because that's what needs to happen. Because sometimes truth isn't good enough. Sometimes people deserve more. Sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded.

  

I don't personally look to my own life experiences for answers about how to play a scene.

  

Well, it's embarrassing to be a star.

  

It's about pursuing it rather than waiting to see what comes along.

  

I like being responsible for myself

  

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

  

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.

  

The art of survival is a story that never ends.

  

Being misunderstood is not a bad thing as an actor. I know the truth.

  

I always want to confuse people in terms of any kind of image and be unpredictable in any kind of movie I make.

  

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

  

The biggest rebellion I could've ever had with my father would be to work in a bank. He would have disowned me. As long as I was doing something where I didn't have to wear a tie, I was good.

Me

  

In honesty, there are probably a lot of stories that can be told with Batman. I like the idea of him growing older and he can't quite do it as much anymore.

Character

  

I find what I do for a living really funny. I mean, acting is kind of a hilarious thing for a grown man to call a job.

  

A lot of actors say that theater's the thing for them. And that's great, and I'm not one to speak with any authority about it because of not having done it properly. For me, movies are what I love.

Me

  

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

  

I'll find myself having dinner with people and someone will mention something and I will say I was in that situation once. Then I'll say, forget it, it was a scene I was in. That can get to be quite confusing.

  

I'm an actor I'm not a politician. I always kick myself when I talk too much about family, or personal things.

Family

  

The only thing I would unequivocally say is that I have never had any interest in romantic comedy I just couldn't do it. I think I'd be terrible.

Never , Think

  

Certainly I have no attraction to misery. I don't intentionally go for dark.

  

My dad was the biggest influence on my life because he was never boring.

Life , Never

  

I don't have acknowledged preferences of characters.

  

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 start from scratch with each movie; I wipe the slate and I certainly don't rely on some bag of acting tricks I've amassed over the years.

  

Planning a career, I always find that such a tricky thing, because I don't have much of a plan, really.

  

I think mostly it's the adventure that I will have in making the movie. That's what I look for.

Think

  

And I not only inherited an aversion to the nine-to-five routine, but the sense from my parents that being bored and boring is the worst thing that you can be.

  

One of the places where we lived when I was growing up had this big wood out the back. And starting when I was about 8, I used to enjoy just walking alone through the wood late. Eleven p.m. Midnight. Later.

  

I do like taking stuff seriously that a lot of people look at as nonsense. I enjoy the insanity of that. And I like the commitment that is needed for that.

Like

  

How serious can a movie about time-traveling robots be? You want it to be cool and fun.

  

Art is something to be proud of. Art is no compromise.

  

Well, it's embarrassing to be a star.

  

Look, I've got incredible pride for my family. I've absolutely fallen into that cliche of a dad who could just happily talk about my daughter endlessly.

Family

  

I don't get it when you get so much openness about the way movies are made, and the special effects and the behind-the-scenes stuff and all of that. I can't help but feel like this reduces it a little bit.

  

I started my career without fans.

  

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.

Yourself

  

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?

Character

  

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.