The actor also famously turned down the role of Patrick Bateman in American Psycho after negative reactions to the role, which predicted that playing such a controversial character would be no less than a career suicide. Eventually it was Christian Bale who took on the role and the rest is history.

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.

Who almost got the role of Patrick Bateman?

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.

Why was Patrick Bateman recast?

In film, on stage and screen

Leonardo DiCaprio was set to play the character, but Ellis (as explained in the American Psycho DVD) decided he would appear too young, especially immediately after Titanic. In addition, his managers thought the role was "too violent" and could potentially hurt his career.

What if Leonardo DiCaprio played Patrick Bateman?

At the time, Leonardo DiCaprio was a rising, fresh-faced talent widely considered to be the biggest movie star of the day. However, his clean-cut image would have been significantly tainted by the role of Patrick Bateman, and that could have led to a slump in his career in the years that followed.

Why did Leonardo DiCaprio not play Patrick Bateman?

Who was originally supposed to play American Psycho?

They sought to make a period film grounded in the 1980s, sharing the setting with the novel. The pre-production period was tumultuous; Harron cast Bale to play Bateman, but because distributor Lionsgate Films secured a contract with Leonardo DiCaprio in the role, Harron was dismissed and replaced with Oliver Stone.

Did Tom Cruise inspire Patrick Bateman?

How Did Tom Cruise Inspire Christian Bale's Patrick Bateman? Yes, Tom Cruise. The death-defying, cinema-saving icon himself. In a 2009 interview that Mary Harron gave to blackbookmag.com, she said that Bale once called her and said that he had a light bulb moment.

Is Patrick Bateman schizophrenic?

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.

Was American Psycho all in his head?

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.

Is Patrick Bateman Alpha or Sigma?

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.

Who does Patrick Bateman hate?

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.

Who turned down American Psycho?

Johnny Depp

Depp was coming off an unusual star turn in Tim Burton's gothic fairy tale, "Edward Scissorhands," in 1990 and would certainly have qualified. Unfortunately, "American Psycho" took almost eight years to go from licensing to production, and Depp moved on.

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.

Did Patrick Bateman have any remorse?

There are many different interpretations, but he doesn't show any remorse. What if this was Bateman showing actual self-awareness?

Is Patrick Bateman supposed to be Ted Bundy?

By now, most people have figured out that the true inspiration behind the investment banker turned serial killer, Patrick Bateman, is Ted Bundy. The reference goes back to the book in which the film is based on. The book's author, Bret Easton Ellis, studied Ted Bundy and even read all his books.

What mental illness does Patrick Bateman have?

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.

Did the detective know Patrick killed Paul?

Detective Kimball and Patrick Bateman

This is partly because, for all of Willem Dafoe's scenes as Detective Kimball, director Mary Harron had him act three different ways. He's unaware that Patrick killed Paul. He's suspicious of Patrick and wants to know more.

Was American Psycho all a dream?

Patrick Bateman's crimes were not a dream, at least not all of them, instead, the real message that both Herron and Eston Ellis wanted to convey was that a man of such social status could literally get away with murder.

Why is American Psycho so controversial?

Upon its release, it was widely condemned as being too graphically violent, outright misogynistic and got him labelled as a sadist.

What is the message of American Psycho?

American Psycho explores the inherent violence of corporate greed, using Patrick Bateman's sadistic acts as a metaphor for the callousness of Wall Street. The film's ambiguous ending signifies Bateman's moral awakening, as he tries to hold himself accountable for his actions while those around him remain indifferent.

What medication does Patrick Bateman take?

Bateman and his friends are also heavy drug users. Early in the novel, Bateman's cocaine use is largely social, but he later does more and more of the drug and his attitude towards it become increasingly aggressive. Bateman begins taking pills, too – downers like Halcion, Valium, and Xanax.

How does Patrick Bateman see himself?

Side 1 is how Patrick sees himself and believes how the rest of the world sees him. He thinks he's the greatest person to ever grace the planet and is capable of anything he wants from a wild threesome (or 2) to being able to write a book about popular music.

Who was originally supposed to be Patrick Bateman?

Christian Bale: Patrick Bateman in 'American Psycho'

Johnny Depp was first tapped for the part, but he turned it down.

Why is American Psycho so iconic?

Patrick Bateman's casual cruelty and violent sadism are key elements of his characterization, and why he's such a cultural icon. The carnage he causes is a direct example of the American Psycho explained metaphor — violence as a stand-in for corporate greed.

Why did American Psycho change names?

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.