Chloë Sevigny recently opened up about her experience filming the cult classic American Psycho, particularly highlighting how Christian Bale’s intense acting process left her feeling intimidated and confused.
In a conversation with co-star Josh Lucas for Vanity Fair, Sevigny recounted the challenges she faced working alongside Bale. “I was trying to respect his process, which I found challenging because I’m very gregarious and silly and goofy, unbeknownst to the general public,” she said. “When people take themselves so seriously, I kind of shut down, even though I take my work very seriously and I love acting and whatnot.”
Sevigny found Bale’s dedication to Method acting particularly daunting. “I was really intimidated by his process and intimidated by him,” she admitted. Reflecting on her struggle to connect with Bale on set, she added, “I wanted a little more generosity to make myself feel more at ease, which is my own ego. It was a really challenging dynamic for me, but I don’t think that I thought he was bad. I was just kind of confused, like, ‘Why aren’t you being social?’”
The actress revealed that she was not familiar with the Method acting approach at the time. “I wasn’t even that aware of what the Method thing was. I never had any formal training; I think I was just kind of ‘fake it until you make it.’ But the whole Method thing, I was like, What even is this approach? It was very intimidating.”
Lucas, however, had a different take on Bale’s performance during the production. He recalled initially perceiving Bale’s acting as “terrible.” “I remember the first scene I did with him, I watched him and he seemed so false — and I now realize that it was this just f***ing brilliant choice that he was making,” Lucas reflected. “That was an actor who was at such a completely different level already. And that he was capable of having these crazy layers going on in what he was doing. I thought it was bogus acting at the time, but was exactly the opposite.”
American Psycho, directed by Mary Harron and released in 2000, is an adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’s 1991 novel. The film features Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman, a high-powered investment banker who conceals his violent alter ego as a serial killer. The ensemble cast includes Willem Dafoe, Jared Leto, Samantha Mathis, Matt Ross, Bill Sage, Cara Seymour, Justin Theroux, Guinevere Turner, and Reese Witherspoon.
