Let's face it, you walk into a room with Christian Bale, you can't be quite sure what you're going to get. Thankfully, in this instance, what I got was a very humorous and affable Bale, eager to chat about his challenging new character Irving Rosenfeld, the center of David O. Russell's AMERICAN HUSTLE. In the film, Irving is a hefty con artist wrangled by the FBI into entrapping some corrupt politicians; it's a rich character filled with the many quirks and tics we've come to expect from the talented actor. And of course, it wouldn't be a Christian Bale performance if it didn't come with an intense physical transformation; in this case, Irving's large gut and dreadful comb-over.
In the interview below, you'll hear Bale talk about how committed he was to nailing the character, the epic comb-over he rocks in the film, and his second collaboration with David O. Russell.