Christian Bale and Amy Adams Becoming the Cheneys of Vice
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Adam McKay suggested to Christian Bale that he play the part of Dick Cheney in his upcoming biopic of the former Vice President of America. However, Bale initially had some problems making the decision.
Bale was hesitant about accepting the proposition partly because he didn’t want to put in a lot of work and the role of the Vice President would take a lot out of him. Eventually, he started researching about Dick Cheney and trying out makeup tests. Consequently, Bale became used to the idea of playing Cheney and started seeing himself in the role. He even joked about how ending his career in one go has its own charm and thrill.
While he took on the role of Dick Cheney, Amy Adams (his frequent co-star) was casted as his wife, Lynne Cheney, in Vice which releases on Christmas day in theatres.
According to Bale, Cheney was a people-pleaser who flourished on serving people, be it George W. Bush or Donald Rumsfeld. However, his first priority was always his wife, the one who made decisions behind the scenes. According to Bale’s research, Lynne was the driving force behind the couple’s rise to power and influence. She needed a man to channel her ambition and achieve her goals due to the time she was living in, and Dick was that vessel for her.
Adams was also a fan of her character’s intelligence and determination and thought better than associating Lynne as just Dick’s wife. To her, Lynne was someone with an individual personality.
None of the lead actors met the personalities they were representing in reality. They were warned not to due to legality issues. They had numerous other resources to learn about their characters.
Taking up a role meant getting into the shoes of the character. This meant they had to undergo a physical transformation as well. Bale gained 40 pounds, wore fake teeth and spent hours with makeup teams perfecting his look. Although Bale admits that it’s not healthy, it is authentic. Adams gained weight too.
Taking on the roles of strong personalities can be tiring and requires hard work, but Adams drew inspiration from Bale’s dedication and tried not to think about the fatigue. The duo avoided tainting their own opinions on the political figures as well.
“I didn’t approach this with my own opinions. I don’t typically head into any character I approach by judging them. That kind of shuts me down in creating the character,” Adams said.
According to Bale, if you disregard the politics, you will find that the biopic is actually the love story of a man who believes and appreciates his wife’s efforts and, contrary to the times and popular opinion, embraced his daughter for coming out. He didn’t care about what others thought. He wanted to make a hero out of everybody.