Christian Bale Says Donald Trump Genuinely Thought He Was Bruce Wayne During Meeting: 'I Just Went Along With It, Really'

Christian Bale Says Trump Thought He Was Bruce Wayne
Christian Bale said Trump thought he was Bruce Wayne that "one time" they had met in 2011. Here, Balle is pictured attending the premiere of Netflix's 'Mowgli' at ArcLight Hollywood on November 28, 2018 in... Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images

Bruce Wayne/Batman is a character Christian Bale famously plays in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy but President Donald Trump thought the British actor was, in fact, the caped crusader the "one time" they had met.

Bale, 44, caught up with Variety at the premiere of Vice on Tuesday in Beverly Hills, California. At the event, he recalled the time he first met Trump during a meeting while he was filming The Dark Knight Rises in 2011. Bale, at the time, suspected Trump had genuinely believed he was Bruce Wayne because the former reality star spoke with him as if he were the fictional character.

"I met him, one time," Bale told Variety. "We were filming on Batman in Trump Tower and he said, 'Come on up to the office.'"

Bale continued, "I think he thought I was Bruce Wayne because I was dressed as Bruce Wayne. So he talked to me like I was Bruce Wayne and I just went along with it, really. It was quite entertaining. I had no idea at the time that he would think about running for president."

Christian Bale says he didn't just wing his weight gain for #ViceMovie like he has in the past pic.twitter.com/tgwqyeBgKI

— Variety (@Variety) December 12, 2018

Bale's final appearance as the dual character of Bruce Wayne/Batman was six years ago when the franchise's final installment The Dark Knight Rises (2012) debuted. Ben Affleck has since succeeded Bale as the Gotham-based character upon starring in Justice League (2017), Suicide Squad (2016) and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016).

Bale is often considered among the best actors to ever step into the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman, but he's said he could've been better in the role. In 2016, he explained to Yahoo! Movies how the late Heath Ledger being cast as the Joker—a part he received a posthumous Academy Award for—encouraged him to push up the ante.

"I didn't quite manage what I hoped I would through the trilogy," Bale told Yahoo! Movies. "Chris did, but my own sense of self is like, 'I didn't quite nail it.'"

Added Bale, "Batman, he's this very, very dark, messed-up character. I found when I put on the suit I went, 'I just feel like a bloody idiot if I don't use this as a means to [show] his true, monstrous self that he allows to come out in that moment.'"

Bale currently stars in Vice, which is a film where he portrays former Vice President Dick Cheney. He stars opposite Sam Rockwell (George W. Bush), Amy Adams (Lynne Cheney) and Steve Carrell (Donald Rumsfeld). Bale, for his part, earned a nod within the Golden Globe for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama category.

To prepare for Vice, Bale gained a more than 40 pounds by eating pie. He explained his weight gain process to Yahoo! Entertainment in January, saying: "You eat a lot of pies. You eat whatever's handy. That's what you do."

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About the writer


Dory Jackson is a New York-based entertainment journalist from Maryland. She graduated from Randolph-Macon College—in May 2016—with a focus in Communication ... Read more

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