From 2005 to 2012, Christian Bale lent his talents to the DC movies space by playing Batman in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy. A decade after The Dark Knight Rises’ release, Bale now has Marvel cred under his belt too, as he appeared as Gorr the God Butcher earlier this year in Thor: Love and Thunder, which is now available to stream with a Disney+ subscription. Although Bale praised director/co-writer Taika Waititi for the final cut of Love and Thunder he put together, the actor has admitted that there was an aspect of making the Marvel movie that he found to be pure “monotony.”
Shooting in front of green screens comes with the territory when it comes to making MCU stories, as these are primarily visual effects-driven spectacles. As Christian Bale told to GQ, when the opportunity for him to play Gorr the God Butcher in Thor: Love and Thunder came along, he accepted it because he found this to be an “intriguing character” and was also impressed by 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok. However, when the time came for him to act out his Gorr scenes in front of green screen (literally colored blue), he found this to be a dull experience. He explained:
That’s the first time I’ve done that. I mean, the definition of it is monotony. You’ve got good people. You’ve got other actors who are far more experienced at it than me. Can you differentiate one day from the next? No. Absolutely not. You have no idea what to do. I couldn’t even differentiate one stage from the next. They kept saying, ‘You’re on Stage Three.’ Well, it’s like, ‘Which one is that?’ ‘The blue one.’ They’re like, ‘Yeah. But you’re on Stage Seven.’ ‘Which one is that?’ “‘he blue one.’ I was like, ‘Uh, where?’
It would have been one thing if Christian Bale had gotten to shoot his Thor: Love and Thunder scenes on location or at least on a practical set, but because this was his first time performing in front of a green/blue screen, he had trouble keeping track of the differences between each day and filming. Furthermore, most, if not all of these stages look alike, so it’s understandable he didn’t understand the differences between them. Between that and being driven crazy by the long fingernails he had on while playing Gorr, clearly Bale wasn’t anywhere near peak comfort level in this role.
After Christian Bale gave the above answer, the interviewer inferred that Thor: Love and Thunder was not one of the projects where he “attempted to stay in character,” and the actor confirmed that was indeed the case, saying:
That would’ve been a pitiful attempt to do that. As I’m trying to get help getting the fangs in and out and explaining I’ve broken a nail, or I’m tripping over the tunic.
Despite Christian Bale struggling with the green screen and issues with his costuming/makeup, his performance as Gorr the God Butcher has been one of the praised elements of Thor: Love and Thunder, although the movie itself has been met with overall mixed reception. However Bale ultimately felt about his time on the latest Marvel movie, with Gorr dying at the end of Love and Thunder, unless the character is resurrected or we pay a visit to him in the afterlife, it stands to reason that this will be the actor’s sole outing in the MCU. That said, Bale will soon be back on the big screen in Amsterdam, which co-stars John David Washington, Margot Robbie and many more.
Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for news about upcoming Marvel movies, and check out our guide detailing how to watch the Marvel movies in order. Following Thor: Love and Thunder and Amsterdam, Christian Bale is starring in The Pale Blue Eye, which will be available for Netflix subscribers to watch starting January 6, 2023.
