How much weight did Christian Bale lose to the train driver

Among the many roles in his career, one of Christian Bale's most famous is The train driver, thanks to the extraordinary amount of weight he lost to play Trevor. Bale's excellent performance was American Psychowhich established him as a name to watch in Hollywood. Bale was so committed to the role of Patrick Bateman that when Leonardo DiCaprio briefly replaced him, he turned down other work, certain that DiCaprio would drop out and be asked to return.

Christian Bale was being highly touted as the new James Bond or Batman during this time, but after a series of films with which he felt personally dissatisfied, he took some time off before returning with the 2004 thriller. The train driver – and the images of Christian Bale in the film almost defy belief. Bale played Trevor Reznik in The train drivera character who suffers from chronic insomnia. The train driver It was an excellent showcase for Christian Bale as an artist, but what shocked many was his physical transformation.

How Much Weight Christian Bale Lost and How He Did It

Christian Bale lost 62 kilos for the train driver

Trevor was supposed to be emaciated because of his insomnia, but although director Brad Anderson intended to portray this with baggy clothes and makeup, Christian Bale's total commitment to the role caused him to diet for months before production. It was said that his diet consisted of an apple, water and coffee daily, plus the occasional whiskey. He also smoked a lot, resulting in Christian Bale losing weight to The train driver equating to 62 pounds – or four and a half stone – in weight.

Christian Bale Weighed 120 Pounds While Filming The train driverand the stark visual contrast with his normal body size borders on the distressing. The train driver is a great film in its own right, but it's undeniable that the visual alarm caused by seeing Christian Bale so thin is the reason it's still so widely discussed nearly two decades since its release.

Is Bale's Machinist Diet Dangerous?

Christian Bale took incredible risks to film The Machinist

Yes, Christian Bale The train driver The diet is extremely dangerous to the body and should not be recreated or attempted. If Bale only ate apples, water and coffee, that means the actor only consumed about 100 calories a day. The average recommended calorie intake per day depends on age, gender and health needs, but is generally around 2,000 calories, meaning Bale only ate about 5% of the standard.

Although Bale achieved this wild transformation under the supervision of a professional, the actor took his weight loss measures to the absolute extreme, and many complications can result from rapid weight loss, like Christian Bale's weight loss.

First, cutting out food groups can result in nutritional deficiencies. This can lead to side effects like hair loss, compromised immune systems, and weakened bones. Another thing that can happen is that the metabolism slows down rather than speeds up as the body recognizes extreme calorie restriction as a catalyst for starvation mode. Rapid weight loss can also result in muscle loss, dehydration, headaches and irritability. The best way to lose weight is little by little, over time, with a healthy diet and plenty of movement.

What it was like filming The Machinist for Christian Bale

The train driver pushed Christian Bale to his physical and mental limits

In the years since the 2004 release of The train driver, Christian Bale got candid about transforming his body for the film and his experiences filming it. Suffice it to say, it was an incredibly exhausting task, but it had unforeseen side effects. In particular, Bale noted that extreme fasting had an almost meditative effect on his emotional state.

Talking to The Guardian In 2018, Bale revealed:

“It's an incredible experience to do this. When you're so thin you can barely walk up a flight of stairs… you're, like, a being of pure thought. It's like you've abandoned your body. That's the most zen – like I've ever been in my life. Two hours of sleep, reading a book for 10 hours straight without stopping… unbelievable.

However, he added that this tranquility quickly ended when he inevitably had to eat.

Why Christian Bale's machinist transformation was important for the film

Dangerous weight loss made Trevor Reznik an iconic character

2004 The train driver has become a cult classic psychological thriller in the two decades since its release, and the prolonged success of Brad Anderson's film can be largely attributed to Christian Bale's weight loss. While The train driver In no way would it be a bad film if Bale hadn't lost so much weight, it also wouldn't have become a topic of discussion.

Without Bale dropping to just 120 pounds, The train driver it would have simply been a solid psychological thriller, definitely worth watching, but at the same time containing little to propel it towards cult status. The train driver now you like it. Bale's weight loss in The train driver is, in no uncertain terms, harrowing to look at. It's also an apt metaphor in many ways. Trevor Reznik lives in a semi-dream state thanks to his aggressive insomnia – and thanks to Bale's weight loss, he also looks like something out of a nightmare.

Trevor doesn't seem to belong in the waking world, and this creates an eerie parallel between his appearance and the way he experiences reality due to extreme sleep deprivation. This, of course, is also due to Bale's performance and Brad Anderson's direction, but Trevor's gaunt appearance cements the impact and surreal feel of the broader film. It also helps show how chronic insomnia can completely devastate the human body, making it The train driver a much more accurate description of the condition than, for example, Fight Club.

The Machinist Was Among Christian Bale's Most Impressive Transformations

Playing Trevor in The Machinist showcases Bale's talent

Christian Bale is no stranger to changing body shape for roles, but The train driver remains among the most drastic. Previously, he needed to gain muscle over six months to prepare for Batman beginswhere he gained 100 pounds and then had to lose 20 under the instructions of Christopher Nolan. For 2010 The fighterthe actor played Dicky Eklund, a boxer, and lost 30 pounds for the role.

Bale's weight loss and weight gain formula has seen the actor increase and decrease in size throughout his career depending on the characters he is playing. He Lost 55 Pounds on the POW Drama Rescue Dawn and gained over 40 pounds to play Dick Cheney in Deputy. Bale also gained 40 pounds to play Irving Rosenfeld in 2013 American Hustlepreviously weighing 185 pounds and rising to 228 pounds. For 2019 sports drama Ford vs FerrariBale played race car driver Ken Miles and lost 70 pounds, 30 pounds more than the 40 pounds he gained Deputy.

Although the actor had several dietary restrictions to lose and gain weight in previous films, he claims he simply didn't eat in preparation for Ford x FerrarI to fit in race cars. According to the actor, his days of dramatic transformations as The train driver are probably over, due to the impact they have on your health.

Christian Bale in The Machinist isn't Hollywood's only radical weight change

Many actors have lost or gained a lot of weight for a role

Christian Bale's weight loss stops The train driver It's certainly drastic, but other actors have also struggled to gain and lose a substantial amount of weight for their roles. For example, Natalie Portman played Nina, a ballerina, in Black Swan. She lost an impressive 20 pounds for the role and reportedly trained up to 8 hours a day, eating next to nothing – to the point where she weighed just 98 pounds, meaning she lost more than a sixth of her body weight.

Jared Leto has had two impressive transformations. He lost more than 50 pounds for his participation in Dallas Buyers Club and then he earned another 70 for his film Chapter 27. Rapper 50 Cent lost more than 50 kilos to play a football player who has cancer in the film Things fall apart. Finally, Robert De Niro gained 60 extra pounds to play Jake LaMotta in his old age. Raging bull. While Christian Bale in The train driver has probably the most visible transformation, other actors gained and lost a lot of weight to play their most famous roles.

Where The Machinist ranks among Christian Bale's best performances

Bale's Oscar-winning turn in Fighter remains his best yet

Christian Bale's commitment to The train driver helped deliver an excellent, riveting performance that may be the most underrated of his career. Bale is hypnotic in the film with his shocking appearance adding to the surreal nature of the film. However, like many of his dramatic transformations, Bale's acting talent goes far beyond weight loss. He makes Trevor a grounded and layered character, even within the nightmarish tone of the film. Bale is able to inject humor and loneliness into the performance, which is what makes it so compelling.

The train driver It's certainly among his best performances as an actor, but there are two other performances that really shine at the top of his career full of memorable roles. The first is its groundbreaking performance in American Psycho. Bale creates a truly complex protagonist, not just because Patrick Bateman is a cold-blooded killer, but because the satirical nature of the film depends completely on his performance. Bale can be chilling at times, but he also gives one of his funniest performances.

Bale's talent for comedy is so ingrained in his characters that it sometimes goes unnoticed, but it is used brilliantly in his performance as Dick Eklund in The fighter, which stands as Bale's best performance to date. While the sports movie based on a true story is exciting, Bale's performance takes things to another level, creating the most interesting character in the story. Dickie is funny but frustrating. He can be destructive and self-centered as well as loving and supportive. Bale perfectly carries all these contradictions, which led him to win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.