Almost 10 years after the film American Psycho re-introduced the world to actor Christian Bale in the most devilish of ways, that film's director, Mary Harron, is now opening up about Bale's inspiration for the character in a new interview with Black Book. Now, when playing a nicely dressed, well-to-do serial killer, you'd think one would look for similar real-life killers throughout history for inspiration. Nope, not Christian Bale – because according to Harron, his inspiration was none other than Tom Cruise.
Harron says, "We talked about how Martian-likePatrick Bateman was, how he was looking at the world like somebody from another planet, watching what people did and trying to work out the right way to behave. And then one day he called me and he had been watching Tom Cruise on David Letterman, and he just had this very intense friendliness with nothing behind the eyes, and he was really taken with this energy."
It's funny, too, because I've always thought Bale was doing his best Tom Cruise in American Psycho in terms of looks and persona. But what does that say about Tom Cruise? Obviously we like the guy enough to go see his movies, but if he really comes off as that cold and that insincere, then what's the appeal?
Do you think Tom Cruise is truly an American Psycho, or just another misunderstood personality?
