The first full-length trailer for the Dick Cheney movie Vice has landed, providing the first very good look at a transformed Christian Bale as George W. Bush’s controversial vice president.
Bale is almost unrecognisable, thanks to his latest shape-shifting effort. He told Yahoo that he gained 40 pounds, shaved his head, and bleached his eyebrows for the role, while co-star Steve Carrell said to Collider that Bale did exercises to make his neck thicker to look more like Cheney’s.
The result is stunning, as Bale certainly looks the part. He also successfully captures some of Cheney’s trademark mannerisms and his speaking style. Check out the trailer above.
This is just Bale’s latest physical transformation for a role. With a diet consisting of whiskey and cigarettes, he got down to just 120 pounds (54kg) for his role in 2004’s The Machinist before bulking up immediately to play Batman in Batman Begins the next year. Bale lost weight again for 2010’s The Fighter, in which he played accomplished-boxer-turned-crack-addict Dicky Eklund; he won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for that role. Bale then put more than 40 pounds back on and grew his hair for the role of con artist Mel Weinberg in American Hustle.
Vice also stars Oscar winner Sam Rockwell as George W. Bush, Amy Adams as Lynne Cheney, and Steve Carrel as Donald Rumsfeld. It opens on Christmas Day.