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Gareth Bale
MBE

Bale with Wales at the 2022 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Full name	Gareth Frank Bale[1]
Date of birth	16 July 1989 (age 33)[1]
Place of birth	Cardiff, Wales
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.86 m)[1]
Position(s)	Winger
Youth career
	Cardiff Civil Service
1999–2006	Southampton
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2006–2007	Southampton	40	(5)
2007–2013	Tottenham Hotspur	146	(42)
2013–2022	Real Madrid	176	(81)
2020–2021	→ Tottenham Hotspur (loan)	20	(11)
2022–2023	Los Angeles FC	12	(2)
Total		394	(141)
International career
2005–2006	Wales U17	7	(1)
2006	Wales U19	1	(1)
2006–2008	Wales U21	4	(2)
2006–2022	Wales	111	(41)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Gareth Frank Bale MBE (born 16 July 1989) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a winger, most notably for Tottenham Hotspur and Real Madrid. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation and one of the greatest Welsh players of all time.^[2][3][4][5]

Bale began his professional career at Southampton, playing at left-back and earning acclaim as a free-kick specialist. He moved to Tottenham Hotspur in 2007, for an eventual £7 million fee. During his time at Tottenham, managerial and tactical shifts saw him transform into a more attacking player. From the 2009–10 season, under the guidance of Harry Redknapp, Bale became an integral part of the team, rising to international attention during the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League. In 2011 and 2013 he was named PFA Players’ Player of the Year, and was named in the UEFA Team of the Year. In 2013, he was also named PFA Young Player of the Year, the FWA Footballer of the Year and the Premier League Player of the Season. He was nominated to the PFA Team of the Year three times in a row between 2011 and 2013.

Bale was transferred to Real Madrid in 2013 for an undisclosed fee, which was confirmed to be a world-record transfer fee of £85.1 million (€100.8 million). Being part of the subsequent trio dubbed BBC, alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema, Bale helped the club to win the 2013–14 Copa del Rey and UEFA Champions League, scoring in both finals. The following season, he won the UEFA Super Cup and scored in a third major final to help the club win the FIFA Club World Cup. Bale experienced a decrease in game time in the following seasons due to continual injuries, although he collected winner’s medals in La Liga in 2016–17 and 2019–20, as well as three additional Champions League titles in 2015–16, 2016–17 and 2017–18, among other trophies; he featured in all three consecutive finals, scoring twice – once with an overhead kick – in Real Madrid’s 2018 UEFA Champions League Final victory. In 2020–21, he returned to Tottenham on loan, and the following season, his last for Real Madrid, he collected another league title as well as his fifth Champions League title, despite gaining little playing time. He subsequently joined MLS club Los Angeles FC in July 2022 and won the Supporters’ Shield and MLS Cup that season.

Bale made his senior international debut for Wales in May 2006, becoming the youngest player at that point to represent Wales. He then went on to earn 111 caps and scored 41 international goals, making him Wales’ most capped player and top goalscorer of all time. He was the top scorer for Wales in their successful qualifying campaign for UEFA Euro 2016, scoring seven goals; he subsequently represented Wales in the final tournament as they reached the semi-finals, scoring three goals. He later featured for the side at Euro 2020 and was pivotal in Wales’ qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, ending a 64-year appearance drought at the World Cup. He was named Welsh Footballer of the Year a record six times. In January 2023, Bale announced his retirement from football at the age of 33.

Early life and career

Bale was born in Cardiff, Wales, to Frank, a school caretaker, and Debbie Bale, an operations manager. He is the nephew of former Cardiff City footballer Chris Pike.^[6] He attended Eglwys Newydd Primary School in Whitchurch.^[7] It was while at this school that he first came to the attention of Southampton at age nine, when he was playing in a six-a-side tournament with his first club, Cardiff Civil Service.^[8] Growing up, his footballing hero was fellow Welshman and Manchester United player Ryan Giggs.^[9]

Bale attended Whitchurch High School in Cardiff.^[10] He was a keen athlete; he played football alongside future Wales rugby captain Sam Warburton,^[11] rugby, hockey and excelled at athletics.^[12] As a 14-year-old he says that he ran the 100-metre sprint in 11.4 seconds.^[9] Because of his superior footballing skill, the school’s PE teacher, Gwyn Morris, had to write special rules which restricted Bale to playing one-touch football and not using his left foot.^[11]

Despite being only 16 at the time, Bale helped the school’s under-18 team win the Cardiff & Vale Senior Cup. He left school in the summer of 2005 with a Grade A in PE amongst his other GCSE results. In his final year at school, he was awarded the PE department’s prize for services to sport. In the presentation, Morris commented:

«Gareth has a fierce determination to succeed and has the character and qualities to achieve his personal goals. He is one of the most unselfish individuals that I have had the pleasure to help educate.»^[13]

Club career

Southampton

On 17 April 2006, at the age of 16 years and 275 days, Bale became the second youngest player ever to play for Southampton (after Theo Walcott, who was 132 days younger) when he made his debut in the Saints’ 2–0 victory against Millwall. On 6 August, Bale scored his first league goal, a free kick, to level the score at 1–1 against Derby County. The final score at Pride Park was 2–2.^[14]

He scored again, at St Mary’s, against Coventry City in the team’s second game of the 2006–07 season with another free kick.^[15] Bale further developed his reputation as a free kick specialist when he struck the post from one against West Bromwich Albion.^[16] By 16 December 2006, Bale’s goal count had risen to five, thanks to a late equaliser against Sunderland^[17] and free kicks away to Hull City^[18] and at home to Norwich City.^[19]

In December 2006, he won the Carwyn James Award for the BBC Wales Young Sports Personality of the Year,^[20] and was named the Football League Young Player of the Year on 4 March 2007.^[21] This capped what was described in the local press as an «incredible» first full season as a professional footballer in which he was one of the Saints’ «most creative players even (though operating) from the left-back position whilst his defending improved immeasurably as the season progressed.»^[22]

His final game for Southampton was in the first leg of the Championship play-off semi-final against Derby County on 12 May 2007. Bale suffered an injury during the second half, preventing him from appearing in the second leg.^[23][24] In total, he made 45 appearances for Southampton, scoring five goals.^[25]

Tottenham Hotspur

On 25 May 2007, Bale signed a four-year deal with Tottenham Hotspur with the club paying an initial £5 million for the player, potentially rising to £10 million based on appearances and success.^[26]

2007–2009

Bale played his first game for Spurs in a friendly against St. Patrick’s Athletic on 12 July 2007, but was substituted on the 80th minute with a minor dead leg. He made his competitive debut for Tottenham Hotspur on 26 August away against Manchester United.^[27] On 1 September 2007, in his second Spurs appearance, he scored his first goal for the club in a 3–3 draw with Fulham.^[28] Bale went on to score against Arsenal in the North London derby from a free kick.^[29] He then scored in the League Cup home tie against Middlesbrough.^[30]

On 2 December 2007, Bale was substituted after sustaining an injury resulting from a tackle from Fabrice Muamba in the league fixture against Birmingham City. A scan revealed that Bale had suffered ligament damage to his right ankle, consigning him to an extended period on the sidelines. Bale had exploratory surgery on 11 December.^[31] By February 2008, it became clear that Bale was to miss the rest of the season through injury.^[32] Sporting Director of Tottenham, Damien Comolli said, «Even if the examination reveals that Gareth’s foot is stable, the decision has been taken to bring him back slowly to ensure he does not get a repeat of the injury or suffer any further damage. Gareth is obviously disappointed to be sidelined for this length of time but he is still young and we have to do what is best for him in the long run.»^[31]

Bale returned to fitness in August 2008, the same month he signed a new four-year deal with the club,^[33] and went on to make 30 appearances for Tottenham in all competitions that season.^[34] He picked up his first career red card in a 2–1 defeat at Stoke City in October 2008.^[35] That season he took part in the League Cup final against Manchester United. Bale came off the bench in the 98th minute in extra time with the final result deadlocked at 0–0 resulting in a penalty shoot-out that ended 4–1 to Manchester United.^[36]

2009–2011

In June 2009, Bale underwent surgery for a knee injury, ruling him out for over two months. He missed pre-season matches and it was projected that he would miss the first few weeks of the 2009–10 season.^[37] On 26 September, he made his comeback as an 85th-minute substitute in Tottenham’s 5–0 win over Burnley. This was Bale’s first ever involvement in a Premier League win, after not being on the winning side since the Southampton move.^[38] However, he struggled to break into the first team, in part thanks to Benoit Assou-Ekotto’s good form. When Assou-Ekotto was sidelined with an injury, manager Harry Redknapp decided to give Bale a chance and he impressed in Spurs’ FA Cup third-round 4–0 win over Peterborough United.^[39] His first victory as a starter in a league game came in the 2–0 win over London rivals Fulham on 26 January 2010.^[40]

Bale’s good form continued and he was named Player of the Round after helping Spurs to a 3–1 win in the sixth round replay of the FA Cup against Fulham.^[41] In April 2010, Bale scored the winning goal in a 2–1 North London derby win against Arsenal, tapping past Manuel Almunia, after a pass from Jermain Defoe.^[42] Three days later, Bale scored Tottenham’s winning goal with his weaker right foot in a 2–1 victory over league leaders and eventual champions Chelsea and was named man of the match.^[43] He was named Premier League Player of the Month for April 2010.^[44] He signed a new four-year contract at White Hart Lane on 7 May 2010, as a reward for helping the club reaching a 2010–11 UEFA Champions League qualification place.^[45]

On 21 August 2010, Bale scored twice in a 2–1 win at Stoke City, the second of which was a head-high volley into the top right hand corner of the goal.^[46] This was later awarded the BBC Goal of the Month for August 2010. On 25 August, Bale set up all four goals to help Spurs overcome Young Boys 4–0 (6–3 agg.) in a Champions League play-off at White Hart Lane.^[47] Although Assou-Ekotto had already returned from injury, Bale continued his good form and cemented his place in the starting eleven, with his manager opting him to move to left wing to accommodate Assou-Ekotto at left-back.^[48] On 29 September, Bale scored his first Champions League goal for Tottenham in a 4–1 home win against Dutch champions Twente in their second game of the group stages.^[49] For his performances, he was named Welsh Player of the Year by the Football Association of Wales (FAW).^[50]

On 20 October, Bale scored his first senior hat-trick against European champions Inter Milan at the San Siro in the Champions League. Tottenham lost the match 4–3, having been 4–0 down inside the first 35 minutes and playing with ten men for over 80 minutes of the match after goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes had been sent off in the eighth minute for a professional foul on Inter’s Jonathan Biabiany.^[51] In the return match at White Hart Lane on 2 November, Bale provided a man-of-the-match performance, setting up goals for Peter Crouch and Roman Pavlyuchenko to earn Spurs a memorable 3–1 win.^[52]

On 4 November, Bale stated that he intended to remain at Tottenham for the remainder of his recently signed four-year contract, despite reported interest from other clubs,^[48] then, in December, he was awarded the BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year trophy.^[53] On 19 March 2011, it was announced he would then extended his stay at the club until 2015.^[54] On 17 April, Bale was honoured with the PFA Players’ Player of the Year award, as voted for by his peers.^[55]

With Spurs, he rose to international attention during the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League with Tottenham.^[56][57][58]

2011–2013

Bale scored his first goal of the 2011–12 season on 24 September 2011, in an away game against Wigan Athletic. The game ended in a 2–1 victory for Tottenham.^[59] He added his second and third goals of the season on 30 October with two goals against Queens Park Rangers in a 3–1 home win.^[60] He continued his good form with the first goal in a 3–1 victory over Fulham the following week, whilst also setting up Aaron Lennon who made it 2–0 on the stroke of half time.^[61] The first goal against Fulham was later ruled by the «dubious goals committee» to be an own goal by Chris Baird.^[62]

On 3 December, Bale scored the first goal in Tottenham’s 3–0 victory over Bolton Wanderers. He marked the goal with a tribute to Gary Speed by holding up his left boot, with «R.I.P Gary Speed» stitched on it, in front of the Bolton fans.^[63] On 27 December, Bale scored twice to give Tottenham a 2–0 win against Norwich City.^[64] On 5 January 2012, Bale was one of the players voted into the 2011 UEFA Team of the Year. He scored his third brace of the season as he scored twice against Wigan, on 31 January to take his tally to ten goals for the season.^[65] In January 2012, he was named Premier League Player of the Month for the second time in his career, after three goals and two assists in the Premier League for the month.^[66] On 27 June, Bale signed a new four-year contract, committing his future to the club until 2016.^[67]

For the 2012–13 season, Bale changed his squad number from 3 to 11 as he was «not a left-back anymore» and had asked the club for a «higher number».^[68][69] On 16 September 2012, Bale scored his first goal of the 2012–13 season against Reading in a 3–1 away victory.^[70] On 29 September, Bale scored the second goal in Tottenham’s 3–2 away victory over Manchester United, their first win at Old Trafford since 1989.^[71]

He scored his first Premier League hat-trick in a 4–0 away win on Boxing Day against Aston Villa.^[72] On 5 January 2013, Bale scored in the FA Cup third round fixture against Coventry City as well as assisting Clint Dempsey on both of his goals in a 3–0 win.^[73] On 30 January, Bale scored a magnificent solo effort in the 1–1 draw with Norwich City.^[74] Bale then scored against West Bromwich Albion in a 1–0 away win on 3 February.^[75] Bale then took his goal tally of the season to 15 goals with a brace against Newcastle United in a match which Spurs won 2–1. This took Spurs into third place, and strengthened their Champions League ambitions.^[76]

In Bale’s next game, he scored directly from two free kicks, one from 35 yards out just before half time and another from 25 yards out in the dying seconds of injury time, to give Tottenham a 2–1 victory over Lyon in the first leg of their Europa League round of 32 tie on 14 February. This took Bale to a tally of ten goals in his previous ten appearances.^[77] In Tottenham’s Premier League match against West Ham on 25 February, Bale scored the first and third in a 3–2 win for Tottenham. His second, a long range dipping strike from over 30 yards, in the dying stages of the game, capped a world class performance. This was his eighth goal in six games.^[78]

On 3 March, Bale scored against Arsenal in a North London derby that Tottenham won 2–1.^[79] On 7 March, Tottenham faced Inter Milan in the Europa League, with Bale scoring the opening goal and Tottenham winning 3–0.^[80] Bale’s run of good form in the early months of 2013 saw him win Premier League Player of the Month for February^[81] as well as the BBC Goal of the Month in both January and February for his strikes against Norwich City and West Ham United respectively.^[82] On 4 April, Bale injured his right ankle in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-final against Basel.^[83] On his return from injury, Bale scored a goal and assisted Clint Dempsey as Tottenham beat Manchester City at White Hart Lane.^[84]

On 28 April, Bale won both the PFA Players’ Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year after his excellent showing in the 2012–13 season.^[85] A week later, on 2 May 2013, he added the FWA Footballer of the Year Award from the Football Writers’ Association, making Bale one of only two players who have won all three in the same season – the other being Cristiano Ronaldo, who won them in 2007.^[86] Bale scored the winning goal against his former club Southampton on 4 May. The goal gave Spurs a 1–0 win as well as being Bale’s 20th in the Premier League in his 200th appearance for Spurs. On 19 May, Bale scored a 90th-minute goal from 25 yards out. This goal gave Spurs a 1–0 win over Sunderland, but was not enough to give them Champions League football for the following season.^[87]

Real Madrid

On 1 September 2013, Spanish club Real Madrid announced that they had reached an agreement for the transfer of Bale,^[88] signing a six-year deal in a then world record deal.^[89] The Spanish press (and Real Madrid TV) reported that Bale had cost £77 million (€91 million), while the British press reported a world record transfer fee of £85.3 million (€100 million), which would be above Cristiano Ronaldo’s transfer record fee of £80 million (€94 million).^[90][91][92] However, in January 2016, documents pertaining to the transfer were leaked by Football Leaks which confirmed a world record transfer fee of €100.8 million (£85.1 million).^[93] Bale’s record was surpassed in August 2016 by Paul Pogba’s record fee of €105 million (£89.2 million).^[94] Bale was assigned the number 11 shirt at Madrid.^[95]

2013–2015

The first half of Bale’s season was plagued by injuries; of Real’s first 16 games after his signing, Bale missed five and was substituted on or off in six others, playing only five full games.^[96][97] Bale scored on his Real Madrid debut, a goal coming in the 38th minute against Villarreal, before being substituted later in the game for Ángel Di María.^[98] Bale’s second appearance for Madrid came in a 6–1 victory over Galatasaray in the Champions League. Although Bale only played the final 26 minutes, his free kick led to Cristiano Ronaldo’s second goal of the game.^[99] On 28 September 2013, Bale made his home debut as a second-half substitute in a 1–0 loss to local rivals Atlético Madrid.^[100]

Following a brief appearance against Juventus in the Champions League,^[101] Bale made his El Clásico debut on 26 October, but was substituted in the 61st minute. Barcelona won the game 2–1, and Bale’s performance drew some media criticism.^[102] Four days later, he scored two goals and assisted two in a 7–3 victory against Sevilla. Following his impressive performance the Spanish press nicknamed Bale «The Cannon».^[103]

In November, he assisted a further two goals in Madrid’s 3–2 victory over Rayo Vallecano,^[104] before scoring in a 2–2 draw with Juventus in the Champions League.^[105] He then scored a 25-yard free kick against Galatasaray in the Champions League, a match which Madrid won 4–1 despite being a man down.^[106] On 30 November, Bale rounded off the month with his first hat-trick for Real Madrid, as well as assisting Karim Benzema, in a 4–0 victory over Real Valladolid. It was a «perfect hat-trick»: one goal with a header and one with each foot.^[107]

On 26 February 2014, he scored twice in Real Madrid’s 6–1 win against Schalke 04 in the Champions League round of 16 first leg.^[109] He then scored one of the team’s three goals in a 3–0 quarter-final win over Borussia Dortmund on 2 April, taking him to five Champions League goals for the season.^[110] In La Liga, he scored four goals in three matches between gameweeks 31 and 33, as Real Madrid defeated Rayo Vallecano (5–0),^[111] Real Sociedad (4–0)^[112] and Almería (4–0).^[113]

On 16 April, Bale scored the winning goal for Real Madrid with five minutes remaining in the 2014 Copa del Rey Final against rivals Barcelona.^[114] Considered one of the best goals of his career, Bale outsprinted Barcelona defender Marc Bartra from the halfway line (with Bale running off the field at one point) before converting past goalkeeper José Manuel Pinto.^[114] In the post match interview Bale stated, «I had to get round the player and go off the pitch to do it», while his Real Madrid teammate Xabi Alonso commented, «It was incredible, I have never seen anything like it».^[108] The goal was Bale’s 20th of the season and his first in a Clásico fixture.^[108]

On 24 May, Bale scored in the 110th minute of the extra time period to put Real Madrid 2–1 up against city rivals Atlético Madrid in the 2014 UEFA Champions League Final, as Los Blancos won their tenth European Cup.^[115] The goal made Bale the first Welshman to score a goal in a European Cup/Champions League final.^[116] Bale finished his debut season with 22 goals and 16 assists in all competitions.^[117] Real Madrid’s attacking trio of Bale, Benzema and Cristiano, dubbed BBC, finished the season with 97 goals.^[118]

Bale started the 2014–15 season in good form, playing the full 90 minutes and assisting Cristiano Ronaldo’s first goal in a 2–0 win at the Cardiff City Stadium against Sevilla to win the 2014 UEFA Super Cup.^[119] After the match, his performance was described as «amazing» by Ronaldo.^[120] Six days later, Bale scored his first goal of the season in a 4–2 away loss to Real Sociedad.^[121] Bale scored twice in Real’s 8–2 win over Deportivo La Coruña on 20 September 2014.^[122][123]

In December 2014, Bale scored in a third major final, the second goal in a 2–0 win over San Lorenzo, to help the club win the FIFA Club World Cup.^[124] In a match against Espanyol on 10 January 2015, Bale was booed by a section of Madrid fans who adjudged him as being selfish in shooting for goal and not passing to Ronaldo.^[125] Bale was defended by Carlo Ancelotti over this plus difficulties at the end of the season.^[126] On 18 April, Bale sustained a calf injury against Málaga.^[127]

2015–2017

Bale scored twice in Real’s win over Real Betis in September 2015.^[118] His two goals took the total number of goals of Madrid’s attacking trio of Bale, Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo to 200 goals since they first played together in 2013.^[118]

On 20 December 2015, he scored four goals in a 10–2 victory over Rayo Vallecano.^[128] On 9 January 2016, Bale scored his second hat-trick of the season in Madrid’s 5–0 defeat of Deportivo La Coruña in Zinedine Zidane’s first match as head coach of Los Blancos.^[129] After being sidelined since 19 January, due to a calf injury he sustained in a 5–1 league victory at home against Sporting Gijón, during which he had also scored the opening goal of the match,^[130][131] Bale returned to the pitch on 5 March; he made a substitute appearance in Real Madrid’s 7–1 home win over Celta Vigo, scoring Real Madrid’s final goal of the match.^[132]

On 20 March 2016, Bale scored his 43rd La Liga goal in a 4–0 defeat of Sevilla to surpass Gary Lineker as the highest scoring British player in the competition’s history.^[133] On 23 April, Bale scored twice as Real Madrid came from 0–2 down to win 3–2 at Rayo Vallecano.^[134] Bale was a regular starter when the team won the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League. He assisted the team’s only goal and went on to score in the penalty shoot-out win over Atlético Madrid in the final.^[135]

On 30 October 2016, Bale signed a new contract with Madrid until 2022.^[136] On 22 November 2016, Bale damaged his ankle tendons during the 2–1 victory at Sporting CP that would rule him out for up to four months.^[137] On 23 April, Bale made his 100th appearance in La Liga in a 3–2 home defeat to Barcelona, but was forced off after sustaining an injury.^[138]

Despite suffering several injuries during the season, he managed to feature 19 times for Madrid as they won their 33rd La Liga title.^[139][140] After missing more than a month, he returned to action for the 2017 UEFA Champions League Final, which Madrid won.^[141]

2017–2021

The 2017–18 season saw some improvement in Bale’s goalscoring record across the league, cup competitions, and in the Champions League. He featured in Real Madrid’s victories in both the 2017 UEFA Super Cup^[142] and the 2017 Supercopa de España,^[143] and he also featured in the club’s victorious 2017 FIFA Club World Cup campaign, winning a third trophy before 2018 had even begun.^[144] In La Liga, he made 26 appearances and scored 16 goals but Real Madrid were unable to reclaim the title, finishing in third.^[145]

The 2017–18 UEFA Champions League saw Bale scoring once prior to the final. This goal came from the match against Borussia Dortmund in the group stages, when he opened the scoring in a 3–1 victory in Germany.^[146] In the 2018 UEFA Champions League Final, Bale scored two goals, the first an overhead kick from the edge of the 18-yard box – regarded as one of the greatest goals in Champions League history – before a speculative 40-yard strike that went through the hands of goalkeeper Loris Karius, resulting in a 3–1 victory over Liverpool, to help Real Madrid win their thirteenth Champions League trophy.^[147] He became the first substitute to score twice in a Champions League final and was named man of the match.^[148][149]

Following the break-up of the BBC trifecta with Ronaldo’s transfer to Juventus, and the replacement of Zidane by new manager Julen Lopetegui,^[150] Bale was ever-present during August 2018, and was awarded Cinco Estrellas Mahou for the Real Madrid Player of the Month, scoring against Getafe and Girona along the way.^[151]

On 19 December 2018, Bale scored a hat-trick in a 3–1 win over Kashima Antlers in the semi-finals of the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup.^[152] He became the third player to score a hat-trick in a FIFA Club World Cup match after Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Suárez.^[153] He also became the third player to score in three editions of the competition after Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.^[154] He was awarded the Golden Ball^[155] after Real Madrid won the competition by beating Al Ain FC 4–1 in the final.^[156]

On 9 February 2019, Bale scored his 100th goal for Real Madrid after scoring the team’s third goal as a substitute in a 3–1 away win over cross-city rivals Atlético Madrid;^[157] however, he was also the source of controversy in the media following the match, due to the «provocative» goal celebration that he made towards the opposition fans.^[158]

In July 2019, he was close to leaving the club, according to manager Zinedine Zidane,^[159] but later that month a proposed transfer to Chinese club Jiangsu Suning was called off by Real Madrid.^[160] In October 2019, Bale was said to be «angry» at Real Madrid and wanted to leave,^[161] but later that month Zidane said Bale had never asked to leave.^[162] Ex-Real Madrid president Ramón Calderón also said that Bale should return to Tottenham Hotspur.^[163] He made 16 appearances during the league season, as Real Madrid won the 2019–20 La Liga.^[164]

2020–2022: Loan to Tottenham Hotspur and departure

On 19 September 2020, Bale returned to Tottenham Hotspur on a season-long loan.^[165] He came off the bench to score the winner in Tottenham’s 2–1 home win over Brighton & Hove Albion on 1 November, his first goal since returning to the club.^[166] On 3 December, Bale scored his 200th career goal in a 3–3 draw against LASK in the Europa League.^[167] He scored a brace and got an assist in a 4–0 win over Burnley on 28 February 2021.^[168] Bale once again scored twice in Tottenham’s 4–1 victory against Crystal Palace on 7 March, bringing his tally to six goals in six games.^[169] On 2 May, Bale scored a hat-trick in a 4–0 win against Sheffield United. The hat-trick was only his second in the Premier League and his first since his return to Tottenham.^[170] On 23 May 2021, Bale came off the bench to score two goals against Leicester City in a 4–2 away victory which led Tottenham to a 7th-place finish, ensuring qualification to the Europa Conference League.^[171]

Bale returned to Real Madrid for the 2021–22 season.^[172] His appearances during the season were severely limited.^[173] Bale’s agent, Jonathan Barnett, confirmed in May 2022 that Bale would leave Real Madrid at the end of the season.^[174][175] On 1 June, Bale himself published an open letter on Twitter confirming his exit.^[176]

Los Angeles FC and retirement

On 27 June 2022, Major League Soccer team Los Angeles FC announced that they had signed Bale to a 12-month contract using Targeted Allocation Money.^[177] He made his debut on 17 July as a 72nd-minute substitute in a 2–1 win at Nashville SC.^[178] In his next appearance, on 23 July, he came on as a 65th-minute substitute against Sporting Kansas City, scoring his first goal for the club in a 2–0 victory.^[179] Bale made 12 total appearances in the regular season for LAFC, starting two matches, but remained mostly unused as the club won the Supporters’ Shield.^[180] He made his first playoff appearance in the MLS Cup as a substitute, where his header in the 128th minute tied the match at 3–3 and sent it to a penalty shootout. His goal was the latest goal in MLS history.^[181] LAFC won the shootout and their first MLS Cup title.^[182]

On 9 January 2023, Bale announced his retirement from professional football.^[183]

International career

Wales

Bale was selected by Wales at the end of the 2005–06 season for a friendly against Trinidad and Tobago on 27 May 2006.^[184] In the match in Graz, Austria, he replaced David Vaughan after 55 minutes and assisted Robert Earnshaw’s winning goal in a 2–1 victory.^[185] At 16 years and 315 days old, Bale became the youngest player to play for Wales, breaking a record held by Lewin Nyatanga who set that three months earlier; this record was itself superseded by Harry Wilson in October 2013.^[186]

Wales youth guru Brian Flynn commented that Bale was potentially a future star of the game, comparing his technical ability to that of Ryan Giggs.^[187] On 7 October 2006, Bale became the youngest ever goalscorer for the senior national team, scoring a free kick in a Euro 2008 qualification match against Slovakia.^[188] After a long injury lay-off, he returned and started in the World Cup qualifier against Finland on 10 October 2009.^[189] On 14 October, he played a part in Wales’ final World Cup qualifier by setting up David Vaughan to score the opening goal against Liechtenstein and won the free kick that led to the second, Aaron Ramsey’s first at senior level.^[190]

In December 2010, Bale was awarded the BBC Cymru Sports Personality of the Year trophy.^[191] On 12 October 2012, Bale scored both goals for Wales in a 2–1 victory over Scotland in a 2014 World Cup qualifier.^[192] He won his 100th Wales Cap during a World Cup Qualifying Match on 13 November 2021 against Belarus at the Cardiff City Stadium where he played 45 Minutes being substituted at half time.^[193]

Euro 2016 campaign

On 9 September 2014, Bale scored two goals, one with a header and another with a free kick, as Wales beat Andorra 2–1 in their first match of the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying campaign.^[195] In doing so, he became Wales’ joint 10th all-time top-scorer with 14 goals, alongside John Hartson.^[196] Bale scored two goals on 28 March 2015, in a 3–0 win away in Israel.^[197] On 12 June, his 50th cap, he scored the only goal to defeat Belgium in a home qualifier, taking Wales above the Belgians to the top of Group B.^[198] He headed Jazz Richards’ cross on 3 September in a 1–0 away win over Cyprus, putting Wales three points away from qualification.^[199] With qualification to UEFA Euro 2016 achieved (the country’s first major finals since the 1958 FIFA World Cup), on 13 October 2015, Bale scored his seventh goal of the qualifying campaign in Wales’ final qualifier against Andorra at the Cardiff City Stadium.^[200]

On 11 June, Bale scored the first goal in Wales’ clash with Slovakia in their opening game of UEFA Euro 2016 from a free kick, helping his country secure a 2–1 win and, in the process, lead them to their first win in a tournament in 58 years.^[201] His goal saw him become the first Welsh player to score at a major international tournament since Terry Medwin’s goal against Hungary at the 1958 FIFA World Cup.^[202] He then followed this up by scoring another opening free kick goal against England in the second group game, though Wales went on to lose the game 2–1; this made Bale the first player to score two free kicks at a European Championship since Germany’s Thomas Häßler in 1992.^[203] Bale scored his third goal of the tournament in a 3–0 win over Russia, making him their all-time top scorer in major tournaments, ahead of Ivor Allchurch who scored twice in the 1958 World Cup; he also helped to create the second goal of the match, which was scored by Neil Taylor.^[204] In the last 16 against Northern Ireland at the Parc des Princes, Bale sent in the cross from which Gareth McAuley scored an own goal to give the Welsh victory.^[205] Wales were eliminated following a 2–0 defeat to eventual champions Portugal in the semi-final of the tournament on 6 July.^[206]

On 5 September 2016, Bale scored twice in a 4–0 win over Moldova in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification game. This brought him to 24 international goals, surpassing both Ivor Allchurch and Trevor Ford, and behind only Ian Rush’s 28.^[207] On 22 March 2018, with 29 goals, Bale became Wales’ all-time top-scorer surpassing Ian Rush’s 28, thanks to his first hat-trick in his international career in a 2018 China Cup match against China.^[208][209]

Euro 2020 campaign

In May 2021, he was selected as captain of the Wales squad for the delayed UEFA Euro 2020 tournament.^[210] At the finals, he provided the assists for Aaron Ramsey and Connor Roberts’s goals in Wales’s second group match on 16 June, a 2–0 win over Turkey;^[211] he helped his country qualify for the round of 16, in which they were beaten 4–0 by Denmark.^[212]

World Cup 2022 campaign

On 24 March 2022, Bale scored two goals in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying playoff semi-finals in a 2–1 win against Austria which sent Wales to the playoff final.^[213] In the playoff final against Ukraine on 5 June, delayed due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier in the year, Bale’s free-kick was deflected into the net by Ukraine captain Andriy Yarmolenko, giving Wales the lone goal in a 1–0 victory. Initially credited as an own goal for Yarmolenko, the decisive goal was subsequently awarded to Bale at the end of June.^[214] Wales qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 1958. Bale called it «the greatest result in history for Welsh football,» and further that it «means everything. It’s what dreams are made of.»^[215] Bale, as captain led the Welsh team in singing along to the unofficial anthem of the team, «Yma o Hyd,» which was performed live by Dafydd Iwan after the final whistle.^[216][217] After the match, The Guardian opined on the occasion that «what can be said now is that nobody has ever achieved more in a Wales shirt.»^[218]

In November 2022, Bale was named in the Wales squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.^[219] In the team’s opening group stage game against the United States, after going down by one goal in the first half, Bale was awarded a penalty kick after being fouled in the box, and converted. This was the first goal scored by Wales in a World Cup finals tournament since 1958 and earned his side a draw with the United States.^[220] This proved to be Wales’s only point and goal of the tournament, as they finished last in Group B, and were eliminated in the first round.^[221]

Great Britain

Bale, who met the age criteria to play in the 2012 London Olympics, said in May 2011 «I want to play in the Olympics» for the Great Britain Olympic football team, in defiance of the FAW.^[222] On 28 October 2011, Bale became the first player to be photographed modelling the British 2012 London Olympics football supporters’ shirt. In response, FAW chief executive Jonathan Ford said: «Our position remains unchanged. We are not for Team GB. Gareth can make his own choices and make his own decisions. But we are not going to stop anyone playing.» On behalf of Bale, a spokesman said «while he is 100% Welsh, he is also British».^[223]

At the end of June 2012, Bale pulled out of the tournament with a back injury. On 29 June, he advised the Team GB football manager, Stuart Pearce, that he would not be available for selection as he had aggravated an old back and hip injury during a training run. In view of the short recovery time between the end of the Olympics and the start of the Premier League season, Bale had decided to withdraw rather than exacerbate the problem.^[224][225] Bale recovered from his injury in good time to be included on Spurs’ pre-season tour of the United States, scoring against LA Galaxy on 24 July^[226][227] and against New York Red Bulls a week later.^[228] Between these matches, Bale also played against Liverpool when he was injured in a tackle by Charlie Adam.^[229]

Bale’s appearances in Spurs’ pre-season tour coincided with Team GB’s Olympic matches, where they drew with Senegal before victories over the United Arab Emirates and Uruguay took them through to the knockout stages, where they lost to South Korea following a penalty shoot-out. Bale’s withdrawal from the Team GB squad attracted calls for sanctions against him^[226] including a ban from the rest of Spurs’ pre-season tour^[230] but, in the absence of an official complaint by Team GB, these were not carried out. Spurs’ manager, André Villas-Boas, defended the player insisting that Bale «had recovered quicker than expected».^[231] The club’s stance was supported by British Olympic Association chairman Lord Moynihan.^[232]

Tottenham released a statement in relation to Bale’s non-selection for Team GB, they stated that «Gareth sustained an injury as he built up his fitness ahead of joining up with Stuart Pearce’s side. MRI scan reports were sent to the FA medical team on 29 June 2012. He was subsequently not selected on the basis of this injury and the inability to predict recovery time. This decision was not taken lightly and made only after consultation with Team GB’s medical team, who were in agreement after seeing the medical reports.»^[233]

Player profile

Style of play

One of the fastest footballers in the world at his peak,^[234] Bale started out as an offensive left-back or wing-back at the beginning of his career.^[235] It was at Tottenham Hotspur that his manager Harry Redknapp decided to utilise Bale’s pace and played him as a left winger, where he developed into a world class player.^[236] He was predominantly known for his speed, strength, stamina, and heading ability, but also possessed good technique and ball control. His skills, combined with his acceleration and physicality, allowed him to get past defenders regularly and make runs into space, where he was able to score or create.^{[236][237][238][239]} Bale was also a free kick specialist, and was known for employing the «knuckleball» technique (popularised by Juninho Pernambucano) when taking free kicks.^[240][241] As he moved further forward onto the wing, he began to score goals on a regular basis with powerful strikes from outside the penalty box.^[242] In addition to his athletic and offensive capabilities, Bale also drew praise in the media for his work-rate and defensive contribution off the ball.^[243]

As Bale developed into one of the most dangerous left wingers in the world, his style of play won admiration from managers, current and past players such as Luís Figo,^[244] José Mourinho,^[245] and Dani Alves.^[246] Bale had been described as a footballer with «tremendous speed, great crossing ability, a great left foot and exceptional physical qualities».^[247] Former Liverpool player and BBC Sport football pundit Mark Lawrenson said in 2011: «What makes Gareth Bale so special? Simple. He is one of the quickest players I’ve ever seen, but he has another gear and the ability to find that extra pace within the next stride. He has the ability to perform and use his technique at great pace.»^[248]

During the 2011–12 season, Harry Redknapp experimented with using Bale in a free role, as an attacking midfielder, or as a second striker.^{[235][249][250]} The following season, André Villas-Boas deployed Bale in this role on a more permanent basis.^[251] After joining Real Madrid, Bale was usually deployed as a winger, but mostly on the right flank, due to the presence of Cristiano Ronaldo on the left, a position which enabled him to cut into the centre and strike on goal with his stronger left foot;^[252][253] he was also used in a more attacking role on occasion, as a striker or centre forward,^[254][255] courtesy of his goalscoring, movement off the ball, and ability to make attacking runs,^[243][256] while his elevation, strength, and heading accuracy saw him excel in the air in this role.^{[257][258][259]} However, in spite of his playing ability, his playing time during his later seasons with Real Madrid was largely limited by recurring injury struggles.^[238][260]

Reception

Bale is widely regarded as one of the greatest wingers of his generation, one of the greatest Welsh players of all time, and the best British player of his generation.^{[2][5][262][263][264][265]} After a Champions League group stage match against Inter Milan on 2 November 2010, teammate Rafael van der Vaart said, «Everyone is scared of him [Bale]. Maicon is one of the best defenders in the world, and he’s killed him.»^[266][267] El Mundo praising Bale for his performance wrote, «Bale combines the height and build of an 800-metre runner like Steve Ovett with the acceleration and directness of a rugby winger like Bryan Habana. And, when he gets to the byline, he delivers curling crosses like a Brazilian».^[268]

According to his Wales teammates, Bale was a pivotal, inspirational, and uplifting figure for the squad. Welsh international Neil Taylor speaking of Bale’s positive influence on the team’s psyche and performance said, «There’s a belief about the team when he’s in it. He makes everyone around him play better.»^[261]

With the spotlight increasing on Bale following his performances, in October 2012 his Spurs manager Harry Redknapp put him in the same class as both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. He said: «He’s an amazing, amazing talent and he’s after the Ronaldos and Messis of this world and he’s getting better and better. He’s almost unplayable when he’s on his game. He is a genuine world-class player. There’s nobody he couldn’t play for. He’d improve any team.»^[269]

Bale was accused of diving by sections of the British media.^[270][271] However, this was denied by Bale,^[272] Harry Redknapp,^[273] and Wales coach Chris Coleman.^[274] On 29 December 2012, Bale picked up his third yellow card for simulation for the 2012–13 season. It was his fifth for simulation since the start of the 2011–12 season, and no other Premier League player had more than two cautions for simulation in that time.^[275] Between August 2008 and his departure from the Premier League, he was booked eight times for simulation. The next most-booked players were shown three yellow cards each.^[276] Bale was ranked twelfth on ESPN’s list of the world’s most famous athletes in 2016,^[277] while The Guardian listed him as the seventh-best footballer on the planet in the same year.^[278]

During his time at Real Madrid, Bale was praised in the media for his decisive performances in important matches.^[279] Despite his ability and achievements, however, Bale became less popular with the club’s fans during his final years with the team due to his perceived inconsistency and lack of commitment.^{[280][281][282]} Moreover, his injury struggles led some pundits to accuse him of failing to live up to his potential, in particular following his perceived decline in his later seasons at Real Madrid, despite his success and his high level of performance in his first few seasons with the club.^{[283][284][285][286][287]}

Outside football

Personal life

Bale lives in Madrid with his partner Emma Rhys-Jones, his high-school sweetheart.^[288][289]
Their first child was born in Cardiff on 21 October 2012,^[290] and their second daughter was born in the same city on 22 March 2016.^[291] On 17 July 2016, Bale announced he and Rhys-Jones were engaged.^[292] On 9 March 2018, Bale announced that he and his fiancée were expecting their third child.^[293] Later that year, on 8 May, the couple announced the birth of their son.^[294] They married in June 2019.^[295] Bale was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 Birthday Honours for services to association football and charity.^[296]

Bale is teetotal.^[297][298]

Endorsements

On 26 March 2013, Bale filed an application with the Intellectual Property Office to register a logo based on his heart shaped goal celebration along with his squad number (eleven) to be used on a range of merchandise such as clothing and footwear.^[299] Bale is featured in EA Sports’ FIFA video game series, and he has appeared on the British, Irish and Middle Eastern covers of FIFA 14, alongside global cover star Lionel Messi.^[300] His ‘heart’ goal celebration is featured in FIFA 14.^[301]

Bale has endorsed several companies in his career and has current deals with Adidas, EA Sports, Lucozade and BT Sport.^[302] In 2014, Bale was the first player to wear the Adidas F50 crazylight football boots.^[303] In 2015, he unveiled the Adidas X15 football boots.^[304]

Active on social media, Bale has over 45 million Instagram followers, and earns $185,000 per sponsored post, the second highest-paid Briton after David Beckham.^[305] In 2016, ESPN ranked Bale twelfth on its list of the world’s most famous athletes.^[277]

Philanthropy

In November 2014, Bale appeared in FIFA’s «11 against Ebola» campaign with a selection of top football players from around the world, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Xavi and African star Didier Drogba.^[306] Under the slogan «Together, we can beat Ebola», FIFA’s campaign was done in conjunction with the Confederation of African Football and health experts, with the players holding up eleven messages to raise awareness of the disease and ways to combat it.^[306]

In April 2020, he and his wife Emma donated £1 million to health boards in Wales and Spain to help in the fight against the Coronavirus pandemic.^[307] In October 2020, Bale gave £15,000 for Christmas hampers in Swansea, Wales.^[308]

Golf

Bale is a keen golfer, and has a replica of the 17th hole – the island green – at TPC at Sawgrass in his back garden.^[309] His golf playing became somewhat controversial in his latter years at Real Madrid, with the perception that Bale was more interested in his hobby than football. ^[310] El Confidencial cited golf as the reason why Bale spent so much time out injured, claiming it worsened his back problems.^[309] Bale often humorously played-up to this reputation; after qualifying for the Euro 2020 tournament with Wales, he celebrated behind a Welsh flag with the slogan «Wales. Golf. Madrid. In that order» written on it.^[310] Bale was interviewed in Episode 179 of The Erik Anders Lang Show podcast, in which he said his golf handicap was «between a three and a four».^[311] In January 2023, Bale announced on social media that he will be competing in the February 2023 edition of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in California.^[312]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League	National Cup[a]	League Cup[b]	Continental	Other	Total
Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Southampton	2005–06[313]	Championship	2	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	2	0
2006–07[314]	Championship	38	5	1	0	3	0	—	1[c]	0	43	5
Total	40	5	1	0	3	0	—	1	0	45	5
Tottenham Hotspur	2007–08[315]	Premier League	8	2	0	0	1	1	3[d]	0	—	12	3
2008–09[316]	Premier League	16	0	2	0	5	0	7[d]	0	—	30	0
2009–10[317]	Premier League	23	3	8	0	3	0	—	—	34	3
2010–11[318]	Premier League	30	7	0	0	0	0	11[e]	4	—	41	11
2011–12[319]	Premier League	36	9	4	2	0	0	2[f]	1	—	42	12
2012–13[320]	Premier League	33	21	2	1	1	1	8[f]	3	—	44	26
Total	146	42	16	3	10	2	31	8	—	203	55
Real Madrid	2013–14[321]	La Liga	27	15	5	1	—	12[e]	6	—	44	22
2014–15[322]	La Liga	31	13	2	0	—	10[e]	2	5[g]	2	48	17
2015–16[323]	La Liga	23	19	0	0	—	8[e]	0	—	31	19
2016–17[324]	La Liga	19	7	0	0	—	8[e]	2	0	0	27	9
2017–18[325]	La Liga	26	16	2	1	—	7[e]	3	4[h]	1	39	21
2018–19[326]	La Liga	29	8	3	0	—	7[e]	3	3[i]	3	42	14
2019–20[327]	La Liga	16	2	1	1	—	3[e]	0	0	0	20	3
2021–22[328]	La Liga	5	1	0	0	—	2[e]	0	0	0	7	1
Total	176	81	13	3	—	57	16	12	6	258	106
Tottenham Hotspur (loan)	2020–21[329]	Premier League	20	11	2	1	2	1	10[f]	3	—	34	16
Los Angeles FC	2022	MLS	12	2	—	—	—	1[j]	1	13	3
Career total	394	141	32	7	15	3	98	27	14	7	553	185

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year^[330]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Wales	2006	4	1
2007	7	1
2008	5	0
2009	7	0
2010	4	1
2011	6	3
2012	5	3
2013	5	2
2014	5	3
2015	6	5
2016	11	7
2017	3	0
2018	6	5
2019	9	2
2020	4	0
2021	13	3
2022	11	5
Total	111	41

Honours

Tottenham Hotspur

• Football League Cup: 2007–08^[331]

Real Madrid

• La Liga: 2016–17,^[332] 2019–20,^[164] 2021–22^[333]
• Copa del Rey: 2013–14^[334]
• Supercopa de España: 2017^[335]
• UEFA Champions League: 2013–14,^[336] 2015–16,^[337] 2016–17,^[338] 2017–18,^[339] 2021–22^[340]
• UEFA Super Cup: 2014,^[341] 2017^[342]
• FIFA Club World Cup: 2014,^[343] 2017,^[344] 2018^[345]

Los Angeles FC

• MLS Cup: 2022^[346]
• Supporters’ Shield: 2022^[347]

Individual

• Tottenham Hotspur Young Player of the Year: 2009–10,^[348] 2010–11^[349]
• Tottenham Hotspur Player of the Year: 2012–13^[350]
• UEFA Team of the Year: 2011,^[351] 2013^[352]
• UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season: 2015–16^[353]
• Welsh Footballer of the Year: 2010,^[50] 2011,^[354] 2013,^[355] 2014,^[356] 2015,^[357] 2016^[358]
• ESM Team of the Year: 2012–13^[359]
• The Football League Team of the Decade^[360]
• Premier League Player of the Month: April 2010, January 2012, February 2013^[361]
• PFA Team of the Year: 2006–07 Championship,^[362] 2010–11 Premier League,^[55] 2011–12 Premier League,^[363] 2012–13 Premier League^[85]
• PFA Players’ Player of the Year: 2010–11,^[55] 2012–13^[85]
• PFA Young Player of the Year: 2012–13^[85]
• FWA Footballer of the Year: 2012–13^[364]
• Premier League Player of the Season: 2012–13^[361]
• FIFA Club World Cup Golden Ball: 2018^[365]
• BBC Wales Carwyn James Junior Sportsman of the Year: 2006^[20]
• Football Association of Wales Young Player of the Year: 2007^[366]
• BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year: 2010^[367]

Orders

• Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE): 2022^[296]

See also

• List of top international men’s football goal scorers by country
• List of men’s footballers with 100 or more international caps

References

External links

Перевод «бейл» на английский

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Контексты

Наряду с этим, бомбардиры могут взять пример с великолепной техники исполнения, продемонстрированной Гаретом Бейлом (Gareth Bale) из сборной Уэльса, который освоил навыки удара с земли с верхней подкруткой на нужное расстояние.
Alternatively strikers can do their best to emulate the superb technique of Wales’ Gareth Bale who has mastered the skill necessary to hit a ball with pace and topspin from the ground.

Знает он лежащие в основе такого удара физические законы или нет, мало кто сомневается в том, что Бейл открыл победную формулу.
And whether he knows the maths behind it or not, there can be little doubt that he has discovered a winning formula.

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бейл

На основании Вашего запроса эти примеры могут содержать грубую лексику.

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Перевод «Бейл» на английский

Агент Бейл закончил с основными вопросами и переходит к делу.

Agent Bale has finished the baseline questions and is getting down to business.

Уже в 9 лет Бейл появился на экране британского телевидения.

In 9 years Bale appeared on the screen of the British television.

Бейл, я так рада Вас видеть.

Bail, It’s so good to see you.

Бейл, вы лучший оратор, которого я знаю.

Bail, you’re the finest public speaker I know.

Профессор Бейл Янг рассказал, что он вдохновился на создание устройства невидимости «просто для развлечения».

Professor Baile Zhang said he was inspired to create the invisibility device «just for fun».

Бейл помогает нам быстрее проникать в штрафную соперника, но стиль игры не меняется.

Bale gives us more penetration, but the style of play doesn’t change.

Гарет Бейл понимает, что для него это худший исход, кошмар.

Gareth Bale knows that this is the worst possible outcome for him, a nightmare.

Благодаря диете, состоящей из яблок и сигарет, Бейл умудрился похудеть почти на 30 килограмм.

Thanks to a diet of apples and cigarettes, Bale managed to lose almost 30 pounds.

Гарет Бейл — один из них.

Gareth Bale is one of those.

Бейл должен играть в клубном турнире,

Bale is playing in a club squash tournament.

А Бейл подумал, что это бунт.

And Bale thought it was a riot.

Бейл побил мировой рекорд по самой высокой выплате за всю историю футбольного клуба.

Bale broke the world record for the highest paying transfer ever carried out by any football club.

«Бейл прибыл к нам не имея регулярной практики, но он находится в неплохом физическом состоянии.

Bale came here without having a normal pre-season, but his condition is not bad.

Гарет Бейл меняет свой номер с «З» на «11».

Gareth Bale changed his 3 number to 11.

Сам Бейл заявил представителям СМИ, что ничего не знал о геноциде, назвав эти события варварскими и ужасными.

Bale told the members of the media that he knew nothing about the genocide, and called these events barbaric and awful.

Джеймс Баллард полагает, что Бейл имел физическое сходство с ним самим в том же возрасте.

Ballard felt Bale had a physical resemblance to himself at the same age.

Лучший игрок матча Гарет Бейл: Забить такой гол на самой главной сцене мирового футбола — это настоящая мечта.

Gareth Bale, man of the match: To score a goal like that on the biggest stage in world football is a dream come true.

«Нам был нужен лучший актер в определенном возрастном диапазоне, и это — Крис Бейл.

We needed the best actor on the board in a certain age range and that’s Chris Bale.

Да, Бейл Органа и я проводим конференцию, посвящённую беженцам из-за войны.

Yes, Bail Organa and I are leading a conference, concerning the refugees from the war.

Гарет Бейл останется на английской обложке FIFA 14

Gareth Bale will be on the front cover of FIFA 14

Ничего не найдено для этого значения.

Результатов: 223. Точных совпадений: 223. Затраченное время: 73 мс

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Индекс слова: 1-300, 301-600, 601-900

Индекс выражения: 1-400, 401-800, 801-1200

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Christian Bale
Bale in 2019
Born	30 January 1974 (age 49) Haverfordwest, Wales, United Kingdom
Citizenship	United Kingdom United States
Occupation	Actor
Years active	c. 1982–present
Works	Full list
Spouse	Sibi Blažić ​ (m. )​
Children	2
Parent	David Bale (father)
Awards	Full list

Christian Charles Philip Bale (born 30 January 1974) is an English actor. Known for his versatility and physical transformations for his roles, he has been a leading man in films of several genres. He has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. Forbes magazine ranked him as one of the highest-paid actors in 2014.

Born in Wales to English parents, Bale had his breakthrough role at age 13 in Steven Spielberg’s 1987 war film Empire of the Sun. After more than a decade of performing in leading and supporting roles in films, he gained wider recognition for his portrayals of serial killer Patrick Bateman in the black comedy American Psycho (2000) and the titular role in the psychological thriller The Machinist (2004). In 2005, he played superhero Batman in Batman Begins and again in The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012), garnering acclaim for his performance in the trilogy, which is one of the highest-grossing film franchises.

Bale continued in starring roles in a range of films outside his work as Batman, including the period drama The Prestige (2006), the action film Terminator Salvation (2009), the crime drama Public Enemies (2009), the epic film Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014) and the superhero film Thor: Love and Thunder (2022). For his portrayal of boxer Dicky Eklund in the 2010 biographical film The Fighter, he won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. Further Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations came for his work in the black comedy American Hustle (2013) and the biographical dramedies The Big Short (2015) and Vice (2018). His performances as politician Dick Cheney in Vice and race car driver Ken Miles in the sports drama Ford v Ferrari (2019) earned him a second win and a fifth nomination respectively at the Golden Globe Awards.

Early life

Christian Charles Philip Bale^[1] was born on 30 January 1974 in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, to English parents—Jenny James, a circus performer, and David Bale, an entrepreneur and activist.^[2][3][4] Bale has remarked, «I was born in Wales but I’m not Welsh—I’m English.»^[5] He has two elder sisters, Sharon and Louise, and a half-sister from his father’s first marriage, Erin.^[4] One of his grandfathers was a comedian while the other was a stand-in for John Wayne.^[6] Bale and his family left Wales when he was two years old,^[7] and after living in Portugal and Oxfordshire, England, they settled in Bournemouth.^[8] As well as saying that the family had lived in 15 towns by the time he was 15, Bale described the frequent relocation as being driven by «necessity rather than choice» and acknowledged that it had a major influence on his career selection.^[7][9][10] He attended Bournemouth School, later saying he left school at age 16.^[11][12] Bale’s parents divorced in 1991, and at age 17, he moved with his sister Louise and their father to Los Angeles.^[13]

Bale trained in ballet as a child.^[14] His first acting role came at eight years old in a commercial for the fabric softener Lenor.^[15] He also appeared in a Pac-Man cereal commercial.^[16] After his sister was cast in a West End musical, Bale considered taking up acting professionally.^[17] He said later he did not find acting appealing but pursued it at the request of those around him because he had no reason not to do so.^[18] After participating in school plays, Bale performed opposite Rowan Atkinson in the play The Nerd in the West End in 1984.^[12][15] He did not undergo any formal acting training.^[12]

Career

Early roles and breakthrough (1986–1999)

After deciding to become an actor at age ten, Bale secured a minor role in the 1986 television film Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna. Its star, Amy Irving, who was married to director Steven Spielberg, subsequently recommended Bale for Spielberg’s 1987 film Empire of the Sun.^[19] At age 13, Bale was chosen from over 4,000 actors to portray a British boy in a World War II Japanese internment camp.^[20] For the film, he spoke with an upper-class cadence without the help of a dialogue coach.^[21] The role propelled Bale to fame,^[22] and his work earned him acclaim and the inaugural Best Performance by a Juvenile Actor Award from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures.^[23] Earlier in the same year, he starred in the fantasy film Mio in the Land of Faraway, based on the novel Mio, My Son by Astrid Lindgren.^[24][25] The fame from Empire of the Sun led to Bale being bullied in school and finding the pressures of working as an actor unbearable.^[26] He grew distrustful of the acting profession because of media attention but said that he felt obligated at a young age to continue to act for financial reasons.^[22] Around this time, actor and filmmaker Kenneth Branagh persuaded Bale to appear in his film Henry V in 1989, which drew him back into acting.^[23] The following year, Bale played Jim Hawkins opposite Charlton Heston as Long John Silver in Treasure Island, a television film adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s book of the same name.^[27]

Bale starred in the 1992 Disney musical film Newsies, which was unsuccessful both at the box office and with critics.^[28] Rebecca Milzoff of Vulture revisited the film in 2012 and found the cracks in Bale’s voice during his performance of the song «Santa Fe» charming and apt even though he was not a great singer.^[29] In 1993, he appeared in Swing Kids, a film about teenagers who secretly listen to forbidden jazz during the rise of Nazi Germany.^[30] In Gillian Armstrong’s 1994 film Little Women, Bale played Theodore «Laurie» Laurence following a recommendation from Winona Ryder, who starred as Jo March.^[23] The film achieved critical and commercial success.^[31] Of Bale’s performance, Ryder said he captured the complex nature of the role.^[31] He next voiced Thomas, a young compatriot of Captain John Smith, in the 1995 Disney animated film Pocahontas, which attracted a mixed critical reception.^[32][33] Bale played a small part in the 1996 film The Portrait of a Lady, based on the Henry James novel of the same name,^[34] and appeared in the 1998 musical film Velvet Goldmine, set in the 1970s during the glam rock era.^[35] In 1999, he was part of an ensemble cast, which included Kevin Kline and Michelle Pfeiffer, portraying Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a film adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play of the same name.^[36]

Rise to prominence and commercial decline (2000–2004)

Bale played Patrick Bateman, an investment banker and serial killer, in American Psycho, a film adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’ novel of the same name, directed by Mary Harron. While Harron had chosen Bale for the part, the film’s production and distribution company, Lionsgate, originally disagreed and hired Leonardo DiCaprio to play Bateman with Oliver Stone to direct. Bale and Harron were brought back after DiCaprio and Stone had left the project.^[37][38] Bale exercised and tanned himself for months to achieve Bateman’s chiseled physique and had his teeth capped to assimilate to the character’s narcissistic nature.^[39][40] American Psycho premiered at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival. Harron said critic Roger Ebert named it the most hated film at the event.^[41] Of Bale’s work, Ebert wrote he «is heroic in the way he allows the character to leap joyfully into despicability; there is no instinct for self-preservation here, and that is one mark of a good actor.»^[42] The film was released in April 2000, becoming a commercial and critical success and later developing a cult following;^[43][44] the role established Bale as a leading man.^[15][45]

In the four years that followed American Psycho, Bale’s career experienced critical and commercial failure.^[46] He next played a villainous real estate heir in John Singleton’s action film Shaft and appeared in John Madden’s film adaptation of the novel Captain Corelli’s Mandolin as Mandras, a Greek fisherman who vies with Nicolas Cage’s title character for the affections of Pelagia, played by Penélope Cruz.^[34] Bale said he found it refreshing to play Mandras, who is emotionally humane, after working on American Psycho and Shaft.^[47] In 2002, he appeared in three films: Laurel Canyon, Reign of Fire and Equilibrium.^[23] Reviewing Laurel Canyon for Entertainment Weekly, Lisa Schwarzbaum called Bale’s performance «fussy».^[48] After having reservations about joining the post-apocalyptic Reign of Fire, which involved computer-generated imagery, Bale professed his enjoyment of making films that could go awry and cited director Rob Bowman as a reason for his involvement.^[49][50] In Equilibrium, he plays a police officer in a futuristic society and performs gun kata, a fictional martial art that incorporates gunfighting.^[34][51][52] IGN‘s Jeff Otto characterised Reign of Fire as «poorly received» and Equilibrium as «highly underrated», while The Independent‘s Stephen Applebaum described the two films along with Shaft and Captain Corelli’s Mandolin as «mediocre fare».^[53][54]

Bale starred as the insomnia-ridden, emotionally dysfunctional title character in the psychological thriller The Machinist. To prepare for the role, he initially only smoked cigarettes and drank whiskey. His diet later expanded to include black coffee, an apple and a can of tuna per day.^[55][56] Bale lost 63 pounds (29 kg), weighing 121 pounds (55 kg) to play the character, who was written in the script as «a walking skeleton».^[57] His weight loss prompted comparisons with Robert De Niro’s weight gain in preparation to play Jake LaMotta in the 1980 film Raging Bull.^[58] Describing his transformation as mentally calming, Bale claimed he had stopped working for a while because he did not come upon scripts that piqued his interest and that the film’s script drew him to lose weight for the part.^[59][60] The Machinist was released in October 2004; it performed poorly at the box office.^[57][61] Roger Moore of the Orlando Sentinel regarded it as one of the best films of the year, and Todd McCarthy of Variety wrote that Bale’s «haunted, aggressive and finally wrenching performance» gave it a «strong anchor».^[62][63]

Batman and dramatic roles (2005–2008)

Bale portrayed American billionaire Bruce Wayne and his superhero alias Batman in Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins, a reboot of the Batman film series. Nolan cast Bale, who was still fairly unknown at the time, because Bale had «exactly the balance of darkness and light» Nolan sought.^[64][65] For the part, Bale regained the weight he lost for The Machinist and built muscle, weighing 220 pounds (100 kg).^[66] He trained in weapons, Wing Chun Kung Fu and the Keysi Fighting Method.^[67] Acknowledging the story’s peculiar circumstances involving a character «who thinks he can run around in a batsuit in the middle of the night», Bale said he and Nolan had deliberately approached it with «as realistic a motivation as possible», referencing Wayne’s parents’ murder.^[54] Bale voiced Wayne and Batman differently. He employed gravelly tone qualities for Batman, which Nolan believed reinforced the character’s visual appearance.^[68] Batman Begins was released in the US in June 2005.^[69] Tim Grierson and Will Leitch of Vulture complimented Bale’s «sensitive, intelligent portrayal of a spoiled, wayward Bruce who finally grows up (and fights crime).»^[34] The performance earned Bale the MTV Movie Award for Best Hero.^[70]

In the same year, Bale voiced the titular Howl, a wizard, in the English-language dub of Hayao Miyazaki’s Howl’s Moving Castle, a Japanese animated film adaptation of Diana Wynne Jones’s children’s novel of the same name.^[71] He committed himself to voice the role after watching Miyazaki’s animated film Spirited Away.^[72] Later that year, he starred as a US war veteran who deals with post-traumatic stress disorder in the David Ayer-helmed crime drama Harsh Times, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.^[34][73] He portrayed colonist John Rolfe in The New World, a historical drama film inspired by the stories of Pocahontas, directed by Terrence Malick. The film was released on 25 December 2005.^[74] The following year saw the premiere of Rescue Dawn, by German filmmaker Werner Herzog, in which Bale portrayed US fighter pilot Dieter Dengler, who fights for his life after being shot down while on a mission during the Vietnam War.^[34] After the two worked together, Herzog stated that he had considered Bale to be among his generation’s greatest talents long before he played Batman.^[75] The Austin Chronicle‘s Marjorie Baumgarten viewed Bale’s work as a continuance of his «masterful command of yet another American personality type.»^[76]

For the 2006 film The Prestige, Bale reunited with Batman Begins director Nolan, who said that Bale was cast after offering himself for the part. It is based on the novel of the same name by Christopher Priest about a rivalry between two Victorian era magicians, whom Bale and Hugh Jackman play in the film.^[77][78] While it attracted acclaim from critics, the film performed more modestly during its run in theatres, earning $110 million against a $40 million budget.^[79][80][81] In his review for The New York Times, A. O. Scott highlighted Bale’s «fierce inwardness» and called his performance «something to savor».^[82] Bale next starred in the 2007 drama films I’m Not There, portraying two incarnations of singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, and in 3:10 to Yuma, playing a justice-seeking cattleman. He characterised his Dylan incarnations as «two men on a real quest for truth» and attributed his interest in 3:10 to Yuma to his affinity for films where he gets to «just be dirty and crawling in the mud».^[83][84] Bale reprised the role of Batman in Nolan’s Batman Begins sequel The Dark Knight, which received acclaim and became the fourth film to gross more than $1 billion worldwide upon its July 2008 release.^[85][86] He did many of his own stunts, including one that involved standing on the roof of the Sears Tower in Chicago.^[87] The Dark Knight has been regarded by critics as the best superhero film.^[88][89]

The Dark Knight trilogy completion and acclaim (2009–2012)

In February 2008, Warner Bros. announced that Bale would star as rebellion leader John Connor in the post-apocalyptic action film Terminator Salvation,^[90] directed by McG, who cited Bale as «the most credible actor of his generation».^[91] In February 2009, an audio recording of a tirade on the film’s set in July 2008 involving Bale was released. It captured him directing profanities at the film’s cinematographer Shane Hurlbut, who walked onto the set during the filming of a scene acted by Bale and Bryce Dallas Howard, and culminated in Bale threatening to quit the film if Hurlbut was not fired.^[92][93] Several colleagues in the film industry defended Bale, attributing the incident to his dedication to acting.^[92][94][95] Bale publicly apologised in February 2009, calling the outburst «inexcusable» and his behaviour «way out of order» and affirming to have made amends with Hurlbut.^[96][97] Terminator Salvation was released in May 2009 to tepid reviews.^[98][99] Claudia Puig of USA Today considered Bale’s work to be «surprisingly one-dimensional», while The Age‘s Jake Wilson wrote he gave one of his least compelling performances.^[100][101] Bale later admitted he knew during production that the film would not revitalise the Terminator franchise as he had wished.^[102] He asserted he would not work with McG again.^[99]

Bale portrayed FBI agent Melvin Purvis opposite Johnny Depp as gangster John Dillinger in Michael Mann’s crime drama Public Enemies.^[103] Released in July 2009,^[104] it earned critical praise and had a commercially successful theatrical run.^[105] Dan Zak of The Washington Post was unsatisfied with the casting of Bale and Depp, believing their characters’ rivalry lacked electricity, while The New Republic‘s Christopher Orr found Bale’s «characteristically closed off» performance «nonetheless effective».^[106][107] The following year, Bale starred in the role of Dicky Eklund, a professional boxer whose career has ended due to his drug addiction, in David O. Russell’s drama film The Fighter. It chronicles the relationship between Eklund and his brother and boxing trainee, Micky Ward, played by Mark Wahlberg. To balance Eklund’s tragic condition, Bale incorporated humor in his characterisation. The portrayal, for which he lost 30 pounds (14 kg), was acclaimed, the San Francisco Chronicle‘s Mick LaSalle describing it as «shrewdly observed, physically precise and psychologically acute».^[108][109] Bale won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture for his performance.^[110][111] In 2011, he starred in Zhang Yimou’s historical drama film The Flowers of War, which was the highest-grossing Chinese film of the year.^[112] Critics described it as «nationalistic», «anti-Japanese» and «too long, too melodramatic, too lightweight».^[112][113]

Bale played Batman again under Christopher Nolan’s direction in the sequel The Dark Knight Rises, released in July 2012.^[114] He described Batman in the film as a remorseful recluse in poor mental and physical health, who has surrendered following the events of The Dark Knight.^[115] Following the shooting at a midnight showing of the film in Aurora, Colorado, Bale and his wife visited survivors, doctors and first responders at The Medical Center of Aurora as well as a memorial to victims.^[116] The Dark Knight Rises was the 11th film to gross more than $1 billion worldwide, surpassing The Dark Knight.^[117] Nolan’s Batman film series, dubbed the Dark Knight trilogy, is one of the highest-grossing film franchises.^[118][119] It is also regarded as one of the best comic book film franchises.^[120] Bale’s performance in the three films garnered universal acclaim,^[15][121] with The Guardian, NME and a poll conducted by the Radio Times ranking it as the best portrayal of Batman on film.^{[122][123][124]} Bale later revealed his dissatisfaction with his work throughout the trilogy, saying he «didn’t quite nail» his part and that he «didn’t quite manage» what he had hoped he would as Batman.^[125]

Continued critical success (2013–2018)

In 2013, Bale played a steel mill worker in Scott Cooper’s thriller Out of the Furnace.^[126] Cooper rewrote the film’s script with Bale in mind before the two even met and would not proceed with the project without the actor’s involvement.^[12] Critics commended the film and deemed it an excellent beginning of the next phase in Bale’s career after playing Batman,^[127][128] with Kristopher Tapley of Variety noting his work in the film was his best.^[129] That same year, he starred in American Hustle, which reunited him with David O. Russell after their work on The Fighter.^[130] To play con artist Irving Rosenfeld, Bale studied footage of interviews with real-life con artist Mel Weinberg, who served as inspiration for the character.^[12] He gained 43 pounds (20 kg), shaved part of his head and adopted a slouched posture, which reduced his height by 3 inches (7.6 cm) and caused him to suffer a herniated disc.^[131][132] Russell indicated that Robert De Niro, who appeared in an uncredited role, did not recognise Bale when they were first introduced.^[133] Writing for the New York Daily News, Joe Neumaier found Bale’s performance to be «sad, funny and riveting».^[134] He was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for his work.^[111][135]

Bale portrayed Moses in Ridley Scott’s epic film Exodus: Gods and Kings. Released in December 2014, the film faced accusations of whitewashing for the casting of Caucasian actors in Middle Eastern roles. Scott justified casting decisions citing financing needs, Bale stating that Scott had been forthright in getting the film made.^[136] Its critical response varied between negative and mixed,^[137] and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch‘s Joe Williams called Bale’s performance in the film the most apathetic of his career.^[138] Bale appeared in Terrence Malick’s drama Knight of Cups, which The Atlantic critic David Sims dubbed a «noble failure».^[139] During its premiere at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2015, he said he filmed the project without having learned any dialogue and that Malick had only given him a character description.^[140] Later that year, he starred as Michael Burry, an antisocial hedge fund manager, in Adam McKay’s The Big Short, a biographical comedy-drama film about the financial crisis of 2007–08.^[34] He used an ocular prosthesis in the film.^[141] The Wall Street Journal‘s Joe Morgenstern found his portrayal «scarily hilarious—or in one-liners and quick takes, deftly edited».^[142] The role earned Bale Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor.^[143][144]

In the 2016 historical drama The Promise, set during the Armenian Genocide, he played an American journalist who becomes involved in a love triangle with a woman, played by Charlotte Le Bon, and an Armenian medical student, played by Oscar Isaac.^[34] Critics disapproved of the film, which accrued a $102 million loss.^[145] Reviewing the film for The New York Times, Jeannette Catsoulis wrote that Bale appeared «muffled and indistinct».^[146] In Cooper’s 2017 film Hostiles, Bale starred as a US Army officer escorting a gravely ill Cheyenne war chief and his family back to their home in Montana. He calls the film «a western with brutal, modern-day resonance» and his character «a bigoted and hate-filled man».^[15][147] Bale learned the Cheyenne language while working on the film.^[147] Empire critic Dan Jolin considered his performance striking and one of the strongest of his career.^[148] In 2018, Bale voiced Bagheera in the adventure film Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle. Rolling Stone‘s David Fear wrote that his voice work and that of Andy Serkis, who directed the film, «bring the soul as well as sound and fury».^[149]

Recent career (2018–present)

For the 2018 biographical comedy drama Vice, written and directed by Adam McKay, Bale underwent a major body transformation once again, as he gained over 40 pounds (18 kg) and shaved his head to portray US Vice President Dick Cheney.^[131] He described Cheney, who is reckoned the most influential and loathed vice president in US history, as «quiet and secretive».^[150][151] The film reunited Bale with Amy Adams, with whom he had co-starred in The Fighter and American Hustle.^[152] It received positive reviews, and The Guardian‘s Peter Bradshaw commended Bale’s «terrifically and in fact rather scarily plausible» Cheney impersonation.^[153] Lauded by critics, the performance won Bale the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and garnered him an Academy Award nomination.^[154][155] During his acceptance speech at the 76th Golden Globe Awards, Bale thanked Satan for inspiring his Cheney portrayal, which elicited a response from Cheney’s daughter and US Representative Liz Cheney, who stated that Bale ruined his opportunity to play «a real superhero».^[156] Bale then portrayed sports car racing driver Ken Miles in the 2019 sports drama Ford v Ferrari, for which he lost 70 pounds (32 kg) after playing Cheney.^[157] Directed by James Mangold, the film follows Miles and automotive designer Carroll Shelby, played by Matt Damon, in events surrounding the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans race.^[158] The role earned Bale a fifth Golden Globe Award nomination.^[159] While promoting the film, he said he would no longer go through weight fluctuations for roles.^[157]

Bale played Gorr the God Butcher, a villain, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film Thor: Love and Thunder, which was released in July 2022. He cited a character in the music video for the Aphex Twin song «Come to Daddy» as an inspiration for his characterisation of Gorr.^[160] Bale’s portrayal drew praise from critics, who deemed it «grounded and non-campy».^[161] He produced and appeared in David O. Russell’s period film Amsterdam and Scott Cooper’s thriller The Pale Blue Eye,^[162] reuniting with both directors for the third time.^[163][164] Amsterdam was released in October 2022, receiving dire reviews and failing at the box office.^[165][166] The Pale Blue Eye was released in December 2022.^[162] Bale is slated to produce and play a preacher in the film The Church of Living Dangerously.^[167]

Artistry and public image

Bale is known for his exhaustive dedication to the weight fluctuations that his parts demand as well as «the intensity with which he completely inhabits his roles»,^[6][168] with The Washington Post‘s Ann Hornaday rating him among the most physically gifted actors of his generation.^[169] Max O’Connell of RogerEbert.com deemed Bale’s commitment to altering his physical appearance «an anchoring facet to a depiction of obsession» in his performances,^[170] while the Los Angeles Times‘s Hugh Hart likened the urgency that drives Bale’s acting style to method acting, adding that it «convincingly animates even his most extreme physical transformations.»^[131] Bale has said that he does not practise method acting and that he does not use a particular technique.^[171] He named Rowan Atkinson as his template as an actor and added that he was mesmerised by him when they worked together.^[172] He also studied the work of Gary Oldman, crediting him as the reason for his pursuit of acting.^[173]

Bale has been recognised for his versatility;^[40][129] Martha Ross of The Mercury News named him one of his generation’s most versatile actors.^[174] Known to be very private about his personal life,^[9] Bale has said that his objective was to embody characters without showing any aspect of himself.^[175] He explained that «letting people know who you are» does not help create different characters, viewing anonymity as «what’s giving you the ability to play those characters».^[18] During interviews to promote films in which he puts on an accent, Bale would continue speaking in the given accent.^[176] Bale has also been noted for portraying roles with an American accent, with The Atlantic‘s Joe Reid listing him among those who «work least in their native accents»;^[177][178] in real life, Bale speaks in an «emphatic, non-posh» English accent.^[15]

Bale was ranked at number eight on Forbes magazine’s list of the highest-paid actors of 2014, earning $35 million.^[179] He has been described as a sex symbol.^[35][180]

Personal life

Bale has lived in Los Angeles since the 1990s.^[15] He holds US citizenship.^[150][181] Bale married Sandra «Sibi» Blažić, a former model, in Las Vegas on 29 January 2000.^{[176][182][183]} The couple have a daughter and a son.^[182] In 2000, Bale became feminist Gloria Steinem’s stepson following her marriage to his father, who died in 2003 of brain lymphoma.^[184][185]

Bale became a vegetarian at seven years old but in 2009 said he was «in and out of the vegetarianism now».^[186] He had stopped eating red meat after reading the children’s book Charlotte’s Web.^[176] An animal rights activist, he supports the organisations Greenpeace, the World Wide Fund for Nature, the Doris Day Animal League, the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International and Redwings Horse Sanctuary.^[187][188] While promoting The Flowers of War in December 2011, Bale, and a crew from the CNN television network, attempted to visit Chen Guangcheng, a confined blind barefoot lawyer, in a village in eastern China. He was forced to retreat after scuffling with guards at a checkpoint.^[189] Bale finally met Chen at a dinner held by the nonprofit Human Rights First the following year, during which he presented Chen with an award.^[190] Bale voiced Chen’s story in Amnesty International’s podcast, In Their Own Words.^[191]

On 22 July 2008, Bale was arrested in London after his mother and his sister Sharon reported him to the police for an alleged assault at a hotel.^[8] He was released on bail.^[8] Bale denied the allegations and later called the incident «a deeply personal matter».^[35] On 14 August, the Crown Prosecution Service declared they would take no further action against him because of «insufficient evidence to afford a realistic prospect of conviction».^[192]

Acting credits and accolades

According to the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, which assigns films scores based on the number of positive critical reviews they receive, some of Bale’s highest-scoring films are The Dark Knight (2008), Ford v Ferrari (2019), American Hustle (2013), Little Women (1994), The Fighter (2010), Rescue Dawn (2007), 3:10 to Yuma (2007), The Big Short (2015), Howl’s Moving Castle (2005) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012); the first, third and last of which are also listed by the data website The Numbers as his highest-grossing films, alongside Terminator Salvation (2009), Batman Begins (2005), Pocahontas (1995), Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) and Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014).^[193][194]

Bale has garnered four Academy Award nominations, including two in the Best Actor category for his work in American Hustle and Vice (2018) as well as two in the Best Supporting Actor category for his work in The Fighter (2010) and The Big Short; he won one for The Fighter.^[195] He has earned two Golden Globe Awards, including Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture for his role in The Fighter and Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his role in Vice, and received two nominations for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his performances in American Hustle and The Big Short and a nomination for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for his performance in Ford v Ferrari.^[111][159] Bale has also been nominated for eight Screen Actors Guild Awards,^[196] winning in the Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role category for The Fighter and the Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture category as part of the American Hustle cast.^[197][198]

References

Further reading

• Holmstrom, John (1996). The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995. Norwich: Michael Russell. p. 394. ISBN 978-0859551786.

External links

• Christian Bale at IMDb
• Christian Bale at AllMovie
• Christian Bale collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Works by or about Christian Bale in libraries (WorldCat catalog)

Christian Bale
Bale in 2019
Born	30 January 1974 (age 49) Haverfordwest, Wales, United Kingdom
Citizenship	United Kingdom United States
Occupation	Actor
Years active	c. 1982–present
Works	Full list
Spouse	Sibi Blažić ​ (m. )​
Children	2
Parent	David Bale (father)
Awards	Full list

Christian Charles Philip Bale (born 30 January 1974) is an English actor. Known for his versatility and physical transformations for his roles, he has been a leading man in films of several genres. He has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. Forbes magazine ranked him as one of the highest-paid actors in 2014.

Born in Wales to English parents, Bale had his breakthrough role at age 13 in Steven Spielberg’s 1987 war film Empire of the Sun. After more than a decade of performing in leading and supporting roles in films, he gained wider recognition for his portrayals of serial killer Patrick Bateman in the black comedy American Psycho (2000) and the titular role in the psychological thriller The Machinist (2004). In 2005, he played superhero Batman in Batman Begins and again in The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012), garnering acclaim for his performance in the trilogy, which is one of the highest-grossing film franchises.

Bale continued in starring roles in a range of films outside his work as Batman, including the period drama The Prestige (2006), the action film Terminator Salvation (2009), the crime drama Public Enemies (2009), the epic film Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014) and the superhero film Thor: Love and Thunder (2022). For his portrayal of boxer Dicky Eklund in the 2010 biographical film The Fighter, he won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. Further Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations came for his work in the black comedy American Hustle (2013) and the biographical dramedies The Big Short (2015) and Vice (2018). His performances as politician Dick Cheney in Vice and race car driver Ken Miles in the sports drama Ford v Ferrari (2019) earned him a second win and a fifth nomination respectively at the Golden Globe Awards.

Early life

Christian Charles Philip Bale^[1] was born on 30 January 1974 in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, to English parents—Jenny James, a circus performer, and David Bale, an entrepreneur and activist.^[2][3][4] Bale has remarked, «I was born in Wales but I’m not Welsh—I’m English.»^[5] He has two elder sisters, Sharon and Louise, and a half-sister from his father’s first marriage, Erin.^[4] One of his grandfathers was a comedian while the other was a stand-in for John Wayne.^[6] Bale and his family left Wales when he was two years old,^[7] and after living in Portugal and Oxfordshire, England, they settled in Bournemouth.^[8] As well as saying that the family had lived in 15 towns by the time he was 15, Bale described the frequent relocation as being driven by «necessity rather than choice» and acknowledged that it had a major influence on his career selection.^[7][9][10] He attended Bournemouth School, later saying he left school at age 16.^[11][12] Bale’s parents divorced in 1991, and at age 17, he moved with his sister Louise and their father to Los Angeles.^[13]

Bale trained in ballet as a child.^[14] His first acting role came at eight years old in a commercial for the fabric softener Lenor.^[15] He also appeared in a Pac-Man cereal commercial.^[16] After his sister was cast in a West End musical, Bale considered taking up acting professionally.^[17] He said later he did not find acting appealing but pursued it at the request of those around him because he had no reason not to do so.^[18] After participating in school plays, Bale performed opposite Rowan Atkinson in the play The Nerd in the West End in 1984.^[12][15] He did not undergo any formal acting training.^[12]

Career

Early roles and breakthrough (1986–1999)

After deciding to become an actor at age ten, Bale secured a minor role in the 1986 television film Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna. Its star, Amy Irving, who was married to director Steven Spielberg, subsequently recommended Bale for Spielberg’s 1987 film Empire of the Sun.^[19] At age 13, Bale was chosen from over 4,000 actors to portray a British boy in a World War II Japanese internment camp.^[20] For the film, he spoke with an upper-class cadence without the help of a dialogue coach.^[21] The role propelled Bale to fame,^[22] and his work earned him acclaim and the inaugural Best Performance by a Juvenile Actor Award from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures.^[23] Earlier in the same year, he starred in the fantasy film Mio in the Land of Faraway, based on the novel Mio, My Son by Astrid Lindgren.^[24][25] The fame from Empire of the Sun led to Bale being bullied in school and finding the pressures of working as an actor unbearable.^[26] He grew distrustful of the acting profession because of media attention but said that he felt obligated at a young age to continue to act for financial reasons.^[22] Around this time, actor and filmmaker Kenneth Branagh persuaded Bale to appear in his film Henry V in 1989, which drew him back into acting.^[23] The following year, Bale played Jim Hawkins opposite Charlton Heston as Long John Silver in Treasure Island, a television film adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s book of the same name.^[27]

Bale starred in the 1992 Disney musical film Newsies, which was unsuccessful both at the box office and with critics.^[28] Rebecca Milzoff of Vulture revisited the film in 2012 and found the cracks in Bale’s voice during his performance of the song «Santa Fe» charming and apt even though he was not a great singer.^[29] In 1993, he appeared in Swing Kids, a film about teenagers who secretly listen to forbidden jazz during the rise of Nazi Germany.^[30] In Gillian Armstrong’s 1994 film Little Women, Bale played Theodore «Laurie» Laurence following a recommendation from Winona Ryder, who starred as Jo March.^[23] The film achieved critical and commercial success.^[31] Of Bale’s performance, Ryder said he captured the complex nature of the role.^[31] He next voiced Thomas, a young compatriot of Captain John Smith, in the 1995 Disney animated film Pocahontas, which attracted a mixed critical reception.^[32][33] Bale played a small part in the 1996 film The Portrait of a Lady, based on the Henry James novel of the same name,^[34] and appeared in the 1998 musical film Velvet Goldmine, set in the 1970s during the glam rock era.^[35] In 1999, he was part of an ensemble cast, which included Kevin Kline and Michelle Pfeiffer, portraying Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a film adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play of the same name.^[36]

Rise to prominence and commercial decline (2000–2004)

Bale played Patrick Bateman, an investment banker and serial killer, in American Psycho, a film adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’ novel of the same name, directed by Mary Harron. While Harron had chosen Bale for the part, the film’s production and distribution company, Lionsgate, originally disagreed and hired Leonardo DiCaprio to play Bateman with Oliver Stone to direct. Bale and Harron were brought back after DiCaprio and Stone had left the project.^[37][38] Bale exercised and tanned himself for months to achieve Bateman’s chiseled physique and had his teeth capped to assimilate to the character’s narcissistic nature.^[39][40] American Psycho premiered at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival. Harron said critic Roger Ebert named it the most hated film at the event.^[41] Of Bale’s work, Ebert wrote he «is heroic in the way he allows the character to leap joyfully into despicability; there is no instinct for self-preservation here, and that is one mark of a good actor.»^[42] The film was released in April 2000, becoming a commercial and critical success and later developing a cult following;^[43][44] the role established Bale as a leading man.^[15][45]

In the four years that followed American Psycho, Bale’s career experienced critical and commercial failure.^[46] He next played a villainous real estate heir in John Singleton’s action film Shaft and appeared in John Madden’s film adaptation of the novel Captain Corelli’s Mandolin as Mandras, a Greek fisherman who vies with Nicolas Cage’s title character for the affections of Pelagia, played by Penélope Cruz.^[34] Bale said he found it refreshing to play Mandras, who is emotionally humane, after working on American Psycho and Shaft.^[47] In 2002, he appeared in three films: Laurel Canyon, Reign of Fire and Equilibrium.^[23] Reviewing Laurel Canyon for Entertainment Weekly, Lisa Schwarzbaum called Bale’s performance «fussy».^[48] After having reservations about joining the post-apocalyptic Reign of Fire, which involved computer-generated imagery, Bale professed his enjoyment of making films that could go awry and cited director Rob Bowman as a reason for his involvement.^[49][50] In Equilibrium, he plays a police officer in a futuristic society and performs gun kata, a fictional martial art that incorporates gunfighting.^[34][51][52] IGN‘s Jeff Otto characterised Reign of Fire as «poorly received» and Equilibrium as «highly underrated», while The Independent‘s Stephen Applebaum described the two films along with Shaft and Captain Corelli’s Mandolin as «mediocre fare».^[53][54]

Bale starred as the insomnia-ridden, emotionally dysfunctional title character in the psychological thriller The Machinist. To prepare for the role, he initially only smoked cigarettes and drank whiskey. His diet later expanded to include black coffee, an apple and a can of tuna per day.^[55][56] Bale lost 63 pounds (29 kg), weighing 121 pounds (55 kg) to play the character, who was written in the script as «a walking skeleton».^[57] His weight loss prompted comparisons with Robert De Niro’s weight gain in preparation to play Jake LaMotta in the 1980 film Raging Bull.^[58] Describing his transformation as mentally calming, Bale claimed he had stopped working for a while because he did not come upon scripts that piqued his interest and that the film’s script drew him to lose weight for the part.^[59][60] The Machinist was released in October 2004; it performed poorly at the box office.^[57][61] Roger Moore of the Orlando Sentinel regarded it as one of the best films of the year, and Todd McCarthy of Variety wrote that Bale’s «haunted, aggressive and finally wrenching performance» gave it a «strong anchor».^[62][63]

Batman and dramatic roles (2005–2008)

Bale portrayed American billionaire Bruce Wayne and his superhero alias Batman in Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins, a reboot of the Batman film series. Nolan cast Bale, who was still fairly unknown at the time, because Bale had «exactly the balance of darkness and light» Nolan sought.^[64][65] For the part, Bale regained the weight he lost for The Machinist and built muscle, weighing 220 pounds (100 kg).^[66] He trained in weapons, Wing Chun Kung Fu and the Keysi Fighting Method.^[67] Acknowledging the story’s peculiar circumstances involving a character «who thinks he can run around in a batsuit in the middle of the night», Bale said he and Nolan had deliberately approached it with «as realistic a motivation as possible», referencing Wayne’s parents’ murder.^[54] Bale voiced Wayne and Batman differently. He employed gravelly tone qualities for Batman, which Nolan believed reinforced the character’s visual appearance.^[68] Batman Begins was released in the US in June 2005.^[69] Tim Grierson and Will Leitch of Vulture complimented Bale’s «sensitive, intelligent portrayal of a spoiled, wayward Bruce who finally grows up (and fights crime).»^[34] The performance earned Bale the MTV Movie Award for Best Hero.^[70]

In the same year, Bale voiced the titular Howl, a wizard, in the English-language dub of Hayao Miyazaki’s Howl’s Moving Castle, a Japanese animated film adaptation of Diana Wynne Jones’s children’s novel of the same name.^[71] He committed himself to voice the role after watching Miyazaki’s animated film Spirited Away.^[72] Later that year, he starred as a US war veteran who deals with post-traumatic stress disorder in the David Ayer-helmed crime drama Harsh Times, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.^[34][73] He portrayed colonist John Rolfe in The New World, a historical drama film inspired by the stories of Pocahontas, directed by Terrence Malick. The film was released on 25 December 2005.^[74] The following year saw the premiere of Rescue Dawn, by German filmmaker Werner Herzog, in which Bale portrayed US fighter pilot Dieter Dengler, who fights for his life after being shot down while on a mission during the Vietnam War.^[34] After the two worked together, Herzog stated that he had considered Bale to be among his generation’s greatest talents long before he played Batman.^[75] The Austin Chronicle‘s Marjorie Baumgarten viewed Bale’s work as a continuance of his «masterful command of yet another American personality type.»^[76]

For the 2006 film The Prestige, Bale reunited with Batman Begins director Nolan, who said that Bale was cast after offering himself for the part. It is based on the novel of the same name by Christopher Priest about a rivalry between two Victorian era magicians, whom Bale and Hugh Jackman play in the film.^[77][78] While it attracted acclaim from critics, the film performed more modestly during its run in theatres, earning $110 million against a $40 million budget.^[79][80][81] In his review for The New York Times, A. O. Scott highlighted Bale’s «fierce inwardness» and called his performance «something to savor».^[82] Bale next starred in the 2007 drama films I’m Not There, portraying two incarnations of singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, and in 3:10 to Yuma, playing a justice-seeking cattleman. He characterised his Dylan incarnations as «two men on a real quest for truth» and attributed his interest in 3:10 to Yuma to his affinity for films where he gets to «just be dirty and crawling in the mud».^[83][84] Bale reprised the role of Batman in Nolan’s Batman Begins sequel The Dark Knight, which received acclaim and became the fourth film to gross more than $1 billion worldwide upon its July 2008 release.^[85][86] He did many of his own stunts, including one that involved standing on the roof of the Sears Tower in Chicago.^[87] The Dark Knight has been regarded by critics as the best superhero film.^[88][89]

The Dark Knight trilogy completion and acclaim (2009–2012)

In February 2008, Warner Bros. announced that Bale would star as rebellion leader John Connor in the post-apocalyptic action film Terminator Salvation,^[90] directed by McG, who cited Bale as «the most credible actor of his generation».^[91] In February 2009, an audio recording of a tirade on the film’s set in July 2008 involving Bale was released. It captured him directing profanities at the film’s cinematographer Shane Hurlbut, who walked onto the set during the filming of a scene acted by Bale and Bryce Dallas Howard, and culminated in Bale threatening to quit the film if Hurlbut was not fired.^[92][93] Several colleagues in the film industry defended Bale, attributing the incident to his dedication to acting.^[92][94][95] Bale publicly apologised in February 2009, calling the outburst «inexcusable» and his behaviour «way out of order» and affirming to have made amends with Hurlbut.^[96][97] Terminator Salvation was released in May 2009 to tepid reviews.^[98][99] Claudia Puig of USA Today considered Bale’s work to be «surprisingly one-dimensional», while The Age‘s Jake Wilson wrote he gave one of his least compelling performances.^[100][101] Bale later admitted he knew during production that the film would not revitalise the Terminator franchise as he had wished.^[102] He asserted he would not work with McG again.^[99]

Bale portrayed FBI agent Melvin Purvis opposite Johnny Depp as gangster John Dillinger in Michael Mann’s crime drama Public Enemies.^[103] Released in July 2009,^[104] it earned critical praise and had a commercially successful theatrical run.^[105] Dan Zak of The Washington Post was unsatisfied with the casting of Bale and Depp, believing their characters’ rivalry lacked electricity, while The New Republic‘s Christopher Orr found Bale’s «characteristically closed off» performance «nonetheless effective».^[106][107] The following year, Bale starred in the role of Dicky Eklund, a professional boxer whose career has ended due to his drug addiction, in David O. Russell’s drama film The Fighter. It chronicles the relationship between Eklund and his brother and boxing trainee, Micky Ward, played by Mark Wahlberg. To balance Eklund’s tragic condition, Bale incorporated humor in his characterisation. The portrayal, for which he lost 30 pounds (14 kg), was acclaimed, the San Francisco Chronicle‘s Mick LaSalle describing it as «shrewdly observed, physically precise and psychologically acute».^[108][109] Bale won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture for his performance.^[110][111] In 2011, he starred in Zhang Yimou’s historical drama film The Flowers of War, which was the highest-grossing Chinese film of the year.^[112] Critics described it as «nationalistic», «anti-Japanese» and «too long, too melodramatic, too lightweight».^[112][113]

Bale played Batman again under Christopher Nolan’s direction in the sequel The Dark Knight Rises, released in July 2012.^[114] He described Batman in the film as a remorseful recluse in poor mental and physical health, who has surrendered following the events of The Dark Knight.^[115] Following the shooting at a midnight showing of the film in Aurora, Colorado, Bale and his wife visited survivors, doctors and first responders at The Medical Center of Aurora as well as a memorial to victims.^[116] The Dark Knight Rises was the 11th film to gross more than $1 billion worldwide, surpassing The Dark Knight.^[117] Nolan’s Batman film series, dubbed the Dark Knight trilogy, is one of the highest-grossing film franchises.^[118][119] It is also regarded as one of the best comic book film franchises.^[120] Bale’s performance in the three films garnered universal acclaim,^[15][121] with The Guardian, NME and a poll conducted by the Radio Times ranking it as the best portrayal of Batman on film.^{[122][123][124]} Bale later revealed his dissatisfaction with his work throughout the trilogy, saying he «didn’t quite nail» his part and that he «didn’t quite manage» what he had hoped he would as Batman.^[125]

Continued critical success (2013–2018)

In 2013, Bale played a steel mill worker in Scott Cooper’s thriller Out of the Furnace.^[126] Cooper rewrote the film’s script with Bale in mind before the two even met and would not proceed with the project without the actor’s involvement.^[12] Critics commended the film and deemed it an excellent beginning of the next phase in Bale’s career after playing Batman,^[127][128] with Kristopher Tapley of Variety noting his work in the film was his best.^[129] That same year, he starred in American Hustle, which reunited him with David O. Russell after their work on The Fighter.^[130] To play con artist Irving Rosenfeld, Bale studied footage of interviews with real-life con artist Mel Weinberg, who served as inspiration for the character.^[12] He gained 43 pounds (20 kg), shaved part of his head and adopted a slouched posture, which reduced his height by 3 inches (7.6 cm) and caused him to suffer a herniated disc.^[131][132] Russell indicated that Robert De Niro, who appeared in an uncredited role, did not recognise Bale when they were first introduced.^[133] Writing for the New York Daily News, Joe Neumaier found Bale’s performance to be «sad, funny and riveting».^[134] He was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for his work.^[111][135]

Bale portrayed Moses in Ridley Scott’s epic film Exodus: Gods and Kings. Released in December 2014, the film faced accusations of whitewashing for the casting of Caucasian actors in Middle Eastern roles. Scott justified casting decisions citing financing needs, Bale stating that Scott had been forthright in getting the film made.^[136] Its critical response varied between negative and mixed,^[137] and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch‘s Joe Williams called Bale’s performance in the film the most apathetic of his career.^[138] Bale appeared in Terrence Malick’s drama Knight of Cups, which The Atlantic critic David Sims dubbed a «noble failure».^[139] During its premiere at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2015, he said he filmed the project without having learned any dialogue and that Malick had only given him a character description.^[140] Later that year, he starred as Michael Burry, an antisocial hedge fund manager, in Adam McKay’s The Big Short, a biographical comedy-drama film about the financial crisis of 2007–08.^[34] He used an ocular prosthesis in the film.^[141] The Wall Street Journal‘s Joe Morgenstern found his portrayal «scarily hilarious—or in one-liners and quick takes, deftly edited».^[142] The role earned Bale Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor.^[143][144]

In the 2016 historical drama The Promise, set during the Armenian Genocide, he played an American journalist who becomes involved in a love triangle with a woman, played by Charlotte Le Bon, and an Armenian medical student, played by Oscar Isaac.^[34] Critics disapproved of the film, which accrued a $102 million loss.^[145] Reviewing the film for The New York Times, Jeannette Catsoulis wrote that Bale appeared «muffled and indistinct».^[146] In Cooper’s 2017 film Hostiles, Bale starred as a US Army officer escorting a gravely ill Cheyenne war chief and his family back to their home in Montana. He calls the film «a western with brutal, modern-day resonance» and his character «a bigoted and hate-filled man».^[15][147] Bale learned the Cheyenne language while working on the film.^[147] Empire critic Dan Jolin considered his performance striking and one of the strongest of his career.^[148] In 2018, Bale voiced Bagheera in the adventure film Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle. Rolling Stone‘s David Fear wrote that his voice work and that of Andy Serkis, who directed the film, «bring the soul as well as sound and fury».^[149]

Recent career (2018–present)

For the 2018 biographical comedy drama Vice, written and directed by Adam McKay, Bale underwent a major body transformation once again, as he gained over 40 pounds (18 kg) and shaved his head to portray US Vice President Dick Cheney.^[131] He described Cheney, who is reckoned the most influential and loathed vice president in US history, as «quiet and secretive».^[150][151] The film reunited Bale with Amy Adams, with whom he had co-starred in The Fighter and American Hustle.^[152] It received positive reviews, and The Guardian‘s Peter Bradshaw commended Bale’s «terrifically and in fact rather scarily plausible» Cheney impersonation.^[153] Lauded by critics, the performance won Bale the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and garnered him an Academy Award nomination.^[154][155] During his acceptance speech at the 76th Golden Globe Awards, Bale thanked Satan for inspiring his Cheney portrayal, which elicited a response from Cheney’s daughter and US Representative Liz Cheney, who stated that Bale ruined his opportunity to play «a real superhero».^[156] Bale then portrayed sports car racing driver Ken Miles in the 2019 sports drama Ford v Ferrari, for which he lost 70 pounds (32 kg) after playing Cheney.^[157] Directed by James Mangold, the film follows Miles and automotive designer Carroll Shelby, played by Matt Damon, in events surrounding the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans race.^[158] The role earned Bale a fifth Golden Globe Award nomination.^[159] While promoting the film, he said he would no longer go through weight fluctuations for roles.^[157]

Bale played Gorr the God Butcher, a villain, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film Thor: Love and Thunder, which was released in July 2022. He cited a character in the music video for the Aphex Twin song «Come to Daddy» as an inspiration for his characterisation of Gorr.^[160] Bale’s portrayal drew praise from critics, who deemed it «grounded and non-campy».^[161] He produced and appeared in David O. Russell’s period film Amsterdam and Scott Cooper’s thriller The Pale Blue Eye,^[162] reuniting with both directors for the third time.^[163][164] Amsterdam was released in October 2022, receiving dire reviews and failing at the box office.^[165][166] The Pale Blue Eye was released in December 2022.^[162] Bale is slated to produce and play a preacher in the film The Church of Living Dangerously.^[167]

Artistry and public image

Bale is known for his exhaustive dedication to the weight fluctuations that his parts demand as well as «the intensity with which he completely inhabits his roles»,^[6][168] with The Washington Post‘s Ann Hornaday rating him among the most physically gifted actors of his generation.^[169] Max O’Connell of RogerEbert.com deemed Bale’s commitment to altering his physical appearance «an anchoring facet to a depiction of obsession» in his performances,^[170] while the Los Angeles Times‘s Hugh Hart likened the urgency that drives Bale’s acting style to method acting, adding that it «convincingly animates even his most extreme physical transformations.»^[131] Bale has said that he does not practise method acting and that he does not use a particular technique.^[171] He named Rowan Atkinson as his template as an actor and added that he was mesmerised by him when they worked together.^[172] He also studied the work of Gary Oldman, crediting him as the reason for his pursuit of acting.^[173]

Bale has been recognised for his versatility;^[40][129] Martha Ross of The Mercury News named him one of his generation’s most versatile actors.^[174] Known to be very private about his personal life,^[9] Bale has said that his objective was to embody characters without showing any aspect of himself.^[175] He explained that «letting people know who you are» does not help create different characters, viewing anonymity as «what’s giving you the ability to play those characters».^[18] During interviews to promote films in which he puts on an accent, Bale would continue speaking in the given accent.^[176] Bale has also been noted for portraying roles with an American accent, with The Atlantic‘s Joe Reid listing him among those who «work least in their native accents»;^[177][178] in real life, Bale speaks in an «emphatic, non-posh» English accent.^[15]

Bale was ranked at number eight on Forbes magazine’s list of the highest-paid actors of 2014, earning $35 million.^[179] He has been described as a sex symbol.^[35][180]

Personal life

Bale has lived in Los Angeles since the 1990s.^[15] He holds US citizenship.^[150][181] Bale married Sandra «Sibi» Blažić, a former model, in Las Vegas on 29 January 2000.^{[176][182][183]} The couple have a daughter and a son.^[182] In 2000, Bale became feminist Gloria Steinem’s stepson following her marriage to his father, who died in 2003 of brain lymphoma.^[184][185]

Bale became a vegetarian at seven years old but in 2009 said he was «in and out of the vegetarianism now».^[186] He had stopped eating red meat after reading the children’s book Charlotte’s Web.^[176] An animal rights activist, he supports the organisations Greenpeace, the World Wide Fund for Nature, the Doris Day Animal League, the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International and Redwings Horse Sanctuary.^[187][188] While promoting The Flowers of War in December 2011, Bale, and a crew from the CNN television network, attempted to visit Chen Guangcheng, a confined blind barefoot lawyer, in a village in eastern China. He was forced to retreat after scuffling with guards at a checkpoint.^[189] Bale finally met Chen at a dinner held by the nonprofit Human Rights First the following year, during which he presented Chen with an award.^[190] Bale voiced Chen’s story in Amnesty International’s podcast, In Their Own Words.^[191]

On 22 July 2008, Bale was arrested in London after his mother and his sister Sharon reported him to the police for an alleged assault at a hotel.^[8] He was released on bail.^[8] Bale denied the allegations and later called the incident «a deeply personal matter».^[35] On 14 August, the Crown Prosecution Service declared they would take no further action against him because of «insufficient evidence to afford a realistic prospect of conviction».^[192]

Acting credits and accolades

According to the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, which assigns films scores based on the number of positive critical reviews they receive, some of Bale’s highest-scoring films are The Dark Knight (2008), Ford v Ferrari (2019), American Hustle (2013), Little Women (1994), The Fighter (2010), Rescue Dawn (2007), 3:10 to Yuma (2007), The Big Short (2015), Howl’s Moving Castle (2005) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012); the first, third and last of which are also listed by the data website The Numbers as his highest-grossing films, alongside Terminator Salvation (2009), Batman Begins (2005), Pocahontas (1995), Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) and Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014).^[193][194]

Bale has garnered four Academy Award nominations, including two in the Best Actor category for his work in American Hustle and Vice (2018) as well as two in the Best Supporting Actor category for his work in The Fighter (2010) and The Big Short; he won one for The Fighter.^[195] He has earned two Golden Globe Awards, including Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture for his role in The Fighter and Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his role in Vice, and received two nominations for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his performances in American Hustle and The Big Short and a nomination for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for his performance in Ford v Ferrari.^[111][159] Bale has also been nominated for eight Screen Actors Guild Awards,^[196] winning in the Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role category for The Fighter and the Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture category as part of the American Hustle cast.^[197][198]

References

Further reading

• Holmstrom, John (1996). The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995. Norwich: Michael Russell. p. 394. ISBN 978-0859551786.

External links

• Christian Bale at IMDb
• Christian Bale at AllMovie
• Christian Bale collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Works by or about Christian Bale in libraries (WorldCat catalog)