10 Fascinating Backstories Behind Famous Movies

3. Christian Bale Was Hired, Fired & Then Re-Hired As The Lead In American Psycho

Lethal Weapon 4 Die Hard 3
Lionsgate

It's difficult to imagine American Psycho without Christian Bale in the role of the titular nutcase - he brings an equal blend of menace and charisma to a character who could have gone very, very wrong had the studio opted for a different actor.

Whilst that might be the case, though, the story of Bale's hiring on American Psycho wasn't an easy process; in fact, it was something of a shambles.

Bale was actually the first actor to be verbally offered the part of Patrick Bateman by the film's director, Mary Harron, but when Leonardo DiCaprio became both a) available and b) interested, the studio decided that they'd pursue the Titanic actor instead. You know, on account on him being the biggest actor in the world.

As a result, Leo - made aware of the Bale/Harron partnership - started to develop the film without its original director and asked for a $21 million fee. After almost a year in development, DiCaprio ultimately abandoned the project in favour of The Beach, and Bale - who had purposely refused to do any other films in the meantime in the belief that DiCaprio would leave the project - reentered the picture after persuading Ewan McGregor not to take the part of Bateman.

Contributor

Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.