Bale talks on important role of good journalism
Christian Bale is not shy about expressing his opinion.
The actor, whose career has included high-profile roles in films like the “Dark Knight” trilogy and “American Psycho,” and who won an Academy Award for “The Fighter,” stars in the new film “The Promise.” It’s about the Armenian genocide in the early part of the 20th century; Bale plays a reporter trying to get the story out to the world. He had a lot to say about the history behind the film, which he wasn’t aware of previously, and how it resonates today, as well as the need for good journalism (yay). He also didn’t sound like he puts a lot of stock in his own abilities, despite his success.
Question: The film is a reminder that the Armenian genocide isn’t that wellknown.
Answer: No, it’s sort of the great unknown genocide, I think, and for me personally was completely unknown, which is a little embarrassing to say. But that was largely what made the project keep cropping up in my mind, that I hadn’t heard anything about it. Now it might be that I was just a very bad student. I couldn’t even tell you if we were taught about it in school, but I don’t recall that at all. And at the same time, as I was reading that, there was on the news the tragedy of what was happening to the Yazidis when they were on the mountaintop under siege and slaughtered by ISIS, and I’m reading a script about Armenians on a mountain… being under siege and slaughtered, and it just seemed uncanny how topical that was, in learning the lack of of consequences for this genocide, and realizing that quite possibly that allowed other consequent genocides to occur.
Q: It resonates now with the refugee crisis, that idea of packing up your whole life in a couple of minutes and moving out if you want to live.
A: Couple of points with that. Yeah, they were told to pack up and move out if you want to live, but that was a lie. Much of the mass deportations were in truth death marches. And (director) Terry (George) chose not to show quite how barbaric the violence was there. He wanted to make sort of a sweeping epic. He wanted this to be a resource. He wanted young people to be able to watch it and not be so distressed by it that they had to turn it off, because the truth would provoke that. It’s stomach-turning.
But yeah, it’s always been relevant, but never more in people’s minds since we made the film, of the importance of good journalism. The comment that the two characters make, which are both true comments — one, the Armenian man saying how nice it must be to come and report on other people’s tragedies, and then return to the comfort of your own home. Absolutely valid. But then equally valid, the reporter’s response of, without the press, nobody would know anything about this. And so in this time when everyone’s calling it post-truth and accusations of fake news aimed at legitimate news organizations, just how important good journalism (is), and truthful journalism, and how important a free press is for any democracy, and for history.
Q: I’m always going to root for the reporter.
A: I wonder why? No, anyone sane should.
Q: An acting point — you’re known for your research. But what does that look like? Just reading a lot and researching facts?
A: Yes. It’s all that. But it’s also trying not to. It’s one of those things that you can’t help but become obsessed with. So you’re trying to stop it a lot of the time, because it’s a bit of an addiction. I can’t tell you crap about acting in general, but I can tell you about the different characters that I’ve played, right? I think there are definitely actors out there, and I think (co-star) Oscar (Isaac) is one of the best actors out there, and he’s someone who is trained, and I’ll bet your (expletive) he would be a fantastic acting teacher. I would have nothing to say to anybody… Generally it’s trying to stop yourself, because you say please, I want to get on with own life… without thinking about this bloody character all the time.
Q: A lot of actors say it’s their favorite part of the job.
A: Yeah. But it’s annoying, as well. It’s also annoying to hear people talking about that, isn’t it? Just show the product. Let’s not talk about how it was made. But you’ve got to fill up an interview.
I do envy the people who just roll up and can bang it out. I envy those people. Those are true actors. Those are proper actors. They’ve got technique. They’ve had training. They know how to make a joke and then keep a straight face. I can’t do any of that stuff… I’m the ultimate visiting amateur who is sort of constantly amazed that I keep getting hired. But then have to work that much harder, because there’s no natural talent here.
Q: You seem to be doing alright.
A: It’s amazing, yeah.