The Christian Bale of Jennifer Lawrence's teenage mind was the muscle-bound crime fighter of 'The Dark Knight' series, not the balding Irving Rosenfeld. Photot / AFP, AP
The Christian Bale of Jennifer Lawrence's teenage mind was the muscle-bound crime fighter of 'The Dark Knight' series, not the balding Irving Rosenfeld. Photot / AFP, AP
When Jennifer Lawrence started her acting career, Christian Bale was high on her list of potential co-stars to make out with.
But the Christian Bale of her teenage mind was the muscle-bound, latex-clad crime fighter of The Dark Knight series, not the portly, balding Irving Rosenfeld of American Hustle.
According to director David Russell, Lawrence was so incensed about the situation, she complained to him.
"I finally get to make out with Christian Bale and he's a really fat guy," she apparently said.
But her words may surprise fans, just months after she urged the media to be more accountable for its role in portraying positive body images to young women.
"I just think it should be illegal to call somebody fat on TV," she said.
Lawrence made the comments during an interview for an upcoming ABC News special Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2013 in December.
"I get it, and, and I do it too, we all do it," she continued. "But I think when it comes to the media, the media needs to take responsibility for the effect that it has on our younger generation, on these girls who are watching these television shows, and picking up how to talk and how to be cool, so then all of a sudden being funny is making fun of the girl who's wearing an ugly dress.
"I mean, if we're regulating cigarettes and sex and cuss words, because of the effect they have on our younger generation, why aren't we regulating things like calling people fat?"
Director Russell made the revelation in an interview with US Magazine during the Australian Academy of Cinema & Television Arts Awards in West Hollywood on Friday night.
Bale famously bulked up to play the caped crusader in Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012).
The Christian Bale of Jennifer Lawrence's teenage mind was the muscle-bound crime fighter of 'The Dark Knight' series, not the balding Irving Rosenfeld. Photot / AFP, AP
But, ever the method actor, he softened up and gained 40 pounds to play the con man in the Golden Globe-winning movie.
"The shocking thing is that Christian can charm ladies even with the comb over and the belly because it comes from confidence and heart," Russell said.
And it's just that sort of dedication that Russell admires in his actors, too.
"I want them to disappear - and that excites them because they want to freak audiences out. And that's what entertainment is right?
"A character like, 'Oh my God. I went into another world! Where was I?' That's what he did.
"That's what Jennifer did. Jennifer played a real housewife from Long Island. That's what [Bradley] Cooper did. He played a Brooklyn FBI guy but a freak! And that's what Amy Adams did when she played a split personality - sexier than anybody ever thought the little princess from Enchanted could be."
Jennifer Lawrence, of course, won Best Supporting Actress for her role as Bale's on-screen wife, Rosalyn Rosenfeld, while Amy Adams scooped the Best Actress honour.
