Der Guardian versucht, irgendetwas Interessantes aus Christian Bale rauszuholen, der sein Privatleben ähnlich gut abschottet wie Kevin Spacey. Klappt nicht ganz, und deswegen schließt der Interviewer aus Bales Rollenwahl einfach mal auf seine Persönlichkeit: The Joker’s New Nemesis.

Clearly, there’s an obsessiveness to him which needs continual feeding. Playing obsessives themselves is ‘a very comfortable feeling’, maybe especially for someone with such an elastic personality. He says he admires that tireless quality in other actors, musicians and performers. He’s in raptures about Terrence Malick – with Kubrick dead, now the ultimate, enigmatically obsessive director – who is getting ready to release The New World, his fourth film in 32 years. ‘He’s so in love with what he does, y’know. He so loves it and he so loves other people’s ideas as well. He gets such a delight out of watching the actors and every member of the crew, really. He’s a very genuine, sincere man.’

So when Bale momentarily sounds weary of recent punishment and pledges No More Demanding Roles, you can’t believe him. The fact that his next project is for Werner Herzog, that notoriously lax taskmaster, doesn’t bode well. It’s a biopic of Dieter Dengler, a German expat turned US Navy pilot. You almost don’t want to know the details: shot down over Laos, dragged behind water buffalo and covered in honey and ants by communist torturers, lost 90lb wandering for 23 days through the jungle. So far, so Bale.