14 DAY TRIAL // Earlier this month, paparazzi photos from the set of “The Fighter” emerged, with Christian Bale looking nothing short of a shadow of his former toned, buffed self. The star, known for his Method acting, is emaciated and frail to become the character he’s playing, a former boxer turned drug addict. According to EW Popwatch, it’s about time the Academy paid attention to his efforts and granted him an Oscar.
A recent photo of the actor, also taken on the same set, shows that his condition is only getting worse, if that’s how one could describe his constant weight loss. Frailer than before, gaunter and with every bone of his body protruding almost from underneath his clothes, there is little left to Christian Bale from his former self, making him close to unrecognizable even to diehard fans. Knowing the Academy’s inclination to nominate and even award actors who go to extreme lengths to physically transform themselves for movie parts, it’s time Bale too got a much-deserved nod.
“Poor Christian Bale. The guy has already gone super-method on us not once, but twice – when he essentially starved himself for roles in ‘The Machinist’ and ‘Rescue Dawn’ – but it looks like he’s ditched the hamburgers and Ensure once again based on photos from the set of ‘The Fighter,’ his new movie about a drug-addled boxer. Seriously, the Academy: How much weight does Bale have to lose before you finally award him an Oscar? […] Nicole Kidman only had to don a fake nose to nab the prize! But let’s just go ahead and give him one before he slips through a crack on the street, ‘mkay?” EW writes.
Joke or no joke, fans agree that Christian Bale would deserve an Oscar nod, if not an actual award, even if it weren’t for his latest stunt, when he started shedding the pounds as if they were dirty socks to play the addict boxer. Given that not only Nicole Kidman, but other stars as well (Charlize Theron in “Monster” quickly comes to mind) have had their efforts officially acknowledged by the Academy in the past, perhaps talk of Bale also turning up to be a serious contender in one of the upcoming editions of the award ceremony is not really that far-fetched an idea, other movie-oriented publications point out.
“The Fighter,” directed by David O. Russell (“I Heart Huckabees,” “Three Kings”), also stars Mark Wahlberg and has been scheduled for a tentative release in 2011. For more on this, keep an eye on this space.