Christian Bale recalls singing with Taylor Swift while filming Amsterdam. Written and directed by David O. Russell, who previously worked with Bale on American Hustle and The Fighter, Amsterdam stars Bale, Margot Robbie, and John David Washington as three friends who each become suspects in a murder investigation during the 1930s. The period piece boasts many unique and intriguing characters besides the main trio, also starring Robert De Niro, Rami Malek, Anya Taylor-Joy, Taylor Swift, Zoe Saldaña, Mike Myers, Chris Rock, and Timothy Olyphant. As one of the film's protagonists, Bale plays the bumbling doctor Burt.
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Bale recently starred in Thor: Love and Thunder as the chilling villain Gorr The God Butcher, which he previously mentioned as a role that his children urged him to take on. That film wasn't his only foray into the superhero world, since he famously starred as Bruce Wayne a.k.a Batman in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy. Known for his dedication to intense and dark roles and projects, Bale is well-known and respected for his films outside the superhero genre such as American Psycho, The Fighter (which earned him an Oscar), The Machinist, and The Big Short. Though Bale has proven his comedic chops before, he is best known for his dramatic work. A comedic murder mystery, Amsterdam will see Bale break from his often intense mold in a goofier role, which apparently involved him breaking out into song alongside Swift.
In a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, Bale mentioned his continued attempts to impress his children with his roles, hilariously saying that he let his daughter know he worked with Taylor Swift, to which she responded in a perplexed fashion. He went on to say that the Amsterdam scene in which Bale, Washington, and Swift sang together has a funny story behind it, offering plenty of praise to Swift in the process. Check out what the actor had to say below:
"It was a very funny scene, actually, because J.D. [Washington] and myself had been practicing that song a little bit. David had us sing it all day long, but then there were moments where I would forget the lyrics. So I’d look at J.D., he’d look at me and then he’d forget, too. So I would have to mouth it to him. And then we were going flat. Our pitch was all over the place, but we were like, 'Yeah, but the feeling is right!' And then all of a sudden, David just goes, 'How about Christian and J.D. just shut up for this one and let Taylor do it?' And it was like we had been drowning out an angel’s voice all day long with our cacophony and our rough, terrible voices. So it’s really something when you have someone with as beautiful a voice as hers, singing right next to you. Oh man, that was phenomenal. David creates so many different phenomenal events and stories and moments in working with him. That’s what he’s trying to create, and he manages to do it beautifully."
Bale's Unexpected Collabs Are Likely To Continue
Few Hollywood careers are as impressive as Bale's, who managed to transition successfully from a child star to an adult actor while simultaneously becoming one of the biggest movie stars in the industry. Due to his already storied career, which includes plenty of twisted, dramatic roles, and even turns as both a superhero and supervillain, it's likely that the actor will continue to challenge the public's expectations by breaking into new genres and embracing challenges. Though his comments seem to indicate that singing is not for him, it's clear that Bale is open to new experiences going forward in his career, and it seems that Russell was happy to provide.
With its incredibly stacked cast, Amsterdam has been highly anticipated by fans of the many actors involved as well as acclaimed director Russell. The trailers have cryptically teased that the main characters will be thrust into "one of the most shocking secret plots in American history," while describing the film's events as "weav[ing] historical fact with fiction." While details about the history behind the film are still unclear, it's certainly a titillating premise. Luckily, fans won't have to wait much longer for answers to their questions, or to see Bale possibly sing with Swift, as Amsterdam comes out October 7th.