Christian Bale Says Donald Trump ‘Thought I Was Bruce Wayne’

— Variety (@Variety) December 12, 2018

Christian Bale is nearly unrecognizable in his role as Dick Cheney in Adam McKay’s Vice, which opens Christmas Day if you need some counterprogramming for all that upbeat Christmas fare. The political dramedy has become even more timely after the election of Donald Trump (aka “individual number one”, he who does very cool and very legal things). And Christian Bale shared his own Trump story during the red carpet premiere of Vice on Tuesday night.

Bale met Trump in 2011 while filming The Dark Knight Rises. (So is this what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object) Bale told Variety, “I met him, one time. We were filming on Batman in Trump Tower and he said, come on up to the office.” Bale went on, joking about the surreal moment when he met Trump. “I think he thought I was Bruce Wayne, because I was dressed as Bruce Wayne. So he talked to me like I was Bruce Wayne and I just went along with it, really. It was quite entertaining. I had no idea at the time that he would think about running for president.”

Bale seemed bemused, and added, “And this story [Vice], you know, is part of how we got to be here with that… ‘individual number one’ being president.”

Bale also spoke about his frequent physical transformations, referencing the time he lost 68 pounds for 2004’s The Machinist and then gained 100 pounds over the ensuing six months to film Batman Begins. He said he consulted a nutritionist for the first time for his role as Dick Cheney because he’s “starting to feel my mortality.” He added, “I did decide, you know what, I might die, so maybe I should go to see someone who actually knows what they’re talking about instead of just winging it, which is what I’ve always done.”

— Variety (@Variety) December 12, 2018