Christian Bale Was Paid Even Less Than Makeup Artists on American Psycho
The studio was so reluctant to see Bale in the main role that they cut his salary to the bare minimum.
When American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis was published in 1991, it became a bestseller and the movie rights were bought less than a year after the book's release.
The main character was eventually played by Christian Bale, but he only got into the project by a miracle – the studio wanted Leonardo DiCaprio.
After the film rights were purchased, the project was in limbo for several years. As a result, Mary Harron, a representative of independent cinema, was chosen to direct the movie.
Christian Bale was cast in the lead role of investment banker and murderer Patrick Bateman. However, when the Lionsgate studio joined the production, the producers decided that they needed a bigger name on the posters.
According to the actor himself, the studio was so reluctant to see him in the movie that they would have cast another actor in his place if there had been a chance. Apparently, there was no such chance and Bale stayed on.
However, the studio, unhappy with the fact that a relatively unknown actor at the time would play the lead in American Psycho, punished Christian in its own way – with the size of the salary. Bale once shared:
“They had paid me the absolute minimum they were legally allowed to pay me. […] 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.”
Lionsgate wanted to see Leonardo DiCaprio in the main role, who had just finished filming Titanic and had become the biggest movie star of the time. The actor was offered $20 million for his role in the movie.
Leo was interested, but Harron felt that the actor was not the right type for the role, and believed that if he played the lead, the film would have "the wrong audience," apparently referring to enthusiastic female fans.
However, DiCaprio eventually dropped out of the running for the role of Patrick Bateman, fearing that the role would damage his acting career. The studio had no choice but to listen to Harron, who only considered Bale for the role.
Source: GQ