Christian Bale is famously one of those actors who will just fuck himself up for a role, whether it’s transforming himself into a reasonable approximation of the popular cartoon human Batman, or starving himself for weeks on end for a part in something like The Machinist. Still, there are spooky Christian Bale transformations, and then there’s seeing him be transmuted into the doughy flesh of former vice-president/amateur face shooter Richard “Dick” Cheney.
Bale is playing Cheney in Adam McKay’s upcoming biopic Vice, which is being described as a semi-comedic take on how a minor Washington bureaucrat somehow became the most powerful man in another guy’s presidential administration. The film focuses on two periods in Cheney’s life, and Annapurna Pictures has revealed pictures of Bale’s take on Old Dick Cheney (below), as well as his Even Older counterpart (above).
Co-star Steve Carrell has suggested that Bale has been doing some specialty exercises for the part, specifically attempting to add on some of Cheney’s all-important neck bulk. Still, Bale has been careful to pass on the credit/blame for his new look to the film’s makeup department, saying he only aimed to provide “a blank canvas through which these incredible [hair and makeup] artists could create the various ages of Cheney.” (That’s our favorite song from Hair.)