Christian Bale was not the first choice for American Psycho Even though The Dark Knight trilogy fame presented a career-defining performance in the Mary Harron directorial, it was Leonardo DiCaprio who was the chosen one before Bale.
In 1997, Mary Harron was set to make 'American Psycho' with Christian Bale as her chosen lead, reported Cinemablend. However, the studio hesitated due to Bale's relative obscurity and considered Leonardo DiCaprio for the part.
Who was originally supposed to play Patrick Bateman?
Christian Bale: Patrick Bateman in 'American Psycho'
Johnny Depp was first tapped for the part, but he turned it down. Then, Leonardo DiCaprio was slated to play Bateman, but his management advised against it at the last minute.
Why did Leonardo DiCaprio not play Patrick Bateman?
The staple Hollywood classic, American Psycho, had the Titanic's heartthrob. However, as difficult as it might seem to envision any other actor besides Bale in the role of Patrick Bateman, DiCaprio left the project at the time due to creative differences with the makers.
The casting process can be unpredictable, and Christian Bale's journey as Patrick Bateman in American Psycho had its twists and turns. Initially replaced when Leonardo DiCaprio was considered for the role, Bale eventually reclaimed the part and delivered a memorable performance as the iconic character.
The first time we see Paul Allen — and then for the remaining time he's in the movie — he mistakenly refers to Patrick Bateman as Marcus Halberstram, who Patrick tells us also works at P&P doing the same exact thing he does. They also dress similarly and go to the same barber.
Johnny Depp Turned Down American Psycho — And That Changes The Movie Completely - IMDb. While it might feel a bit over the top to say, it's simply true: Mary Harron's "American Psycho", an adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' novel of the same name, easily endures as one of the best horror films of the 21st century.
This, combined with sex, violence, drugs, and other desires of the id, is how Bateman enacts his sociopathic violence in a superficial world. Bateman's episodes of schizophrenia also shows clear signs on how he copes with being an affluent person living in a superficial world, fashioned on consumerism.
His transgressive third novel, 'American Psycho', was the one that truly propelled him into the spotlight. Upon its release, it was widely condemned as being too graphically violent, outright misogynistic and got him labelled as a sadist.
In Bret Easton Ellis' American Psycho, the protagonist, Patrick Bateman, is apparently simply a psychopath. However, Bateman can be diagnosed with other mental illnesses such as Asperger's syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, narcissism, and antisocial personality disorder.
It's made clear there is no "top" to Bateman. There is only becoming more successful than the previous day. Therefore, Bateman would be a Sigma in that regard. In American Psycho's first act, Bateman makes it known to his fiancée that he wishes to conform to society as best he can, unlike his other roles.
He displays a high functioning form of Asperger's syndrome, yet there are still symptoms present in Bateman of which even the highest functioning people with Asperger's syndrome cannot rid themselves. One of the key symptoms in Asperger's syndrome is the need for strict routine.
Why did people not want American Psycho to be made?
"American Psycho," Mary Harron's 2000 adaptation of the infamous Bret Easton Ellis novel, was already mired in controversy before it completed filming. Ellis' novel was so graphically violent, so loaded with misogyny, that many people thought the film version would be something close to a snuff film.
In the novel Timothy Bryce and Paul Allen have mildly different surnames. In the book their names are Timothy Price, and Paul Owen. The names were changed since it was later discovered that there were real people who worked on Wall Street with those names, and they production could run into trouble down the road.
While it's true that Patrick is experiencing delusions and hallucinations, it doesn't mean that the murders are in his head. Turner blames the muddiness of the ending on the dichotomy between the fantasy world that Bateman is currently living in and the reality of the murderous situation at hand.
Although Manhattan is a real place, American Psycho is a work of fiction and imaginary locations in the city are part of the story. An imaginary space is a space that is figurative, like a city in a book. To say that a space is imaginary is not to deny its relation to reality.
According to the Wiki article, the lawyer "mistakes him for another colleague". This is supposed to drive home the fact that although he is somewhat of a narcissist, he is unimportant to certain people around him.
Can someone explain the ending of American Psycho?
Harron has clarified that the ending is not meant to imply that the events of the movie all occurred in Patrick Bateman's head as some have theorized. Instead, she and co-writer Guinevere Turner have essentially confirmed that Bateman is a serial killer, but he simply won't be prosecuted in any way for his actions.
Why did Edward Norton turn down Saving Private Ryan?
Edward Norton was offered the role of Private Ryan but turned it down to work on American History X (1998) instead. Both he and Tom Hanks (Captain Miller) would eventually compete against each other for the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1999 but neither won.
In American Psycho (2000) Willem Dafoe (Detective Kimball) acted each meeting with Bateman 3 ways in 3 different takes: 1. He knew Bateman was the killer, 2. He only suspected Bateman was the killer, 3. He did not suspect Bateman.
He usually hangs out with his coworkers at P&P but secretly hates most of them. Bateman kills men and women, the latter for sadistic sexual pleasure and the former because they anger him and make him feel inferior.
Rather, the film aims to portray the self-indulgent and hedonistic Wall Street elite of 1980s New York in a negative light. The whole reason Bateman gets away with the murder of Paul Allen is because Allen, like others in the company, doesn't even know who he is.
Was Leonardo DiCaprio going to be Patrick Bateman?
While the main character and serial killer, Patrick Bateman, is regarded as one of Christian Bale's best performances, he wasn't always slated to star in the film. Bale was director Mary Harron's first pick, but Titanic's Leonardo DiCaprio was cast in the role instead. That is until a feminist legend changed his mind.
