The Source Magazine attended an intimate press conference for David O. Russell’s latest film “American Hustle,” at the Crosby Hotel, which hits theaters this Friday, Dec. 20. Christian Bale gives an incredible performance in the film. Check what he had to say about his role. 

The film starring Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, and Jennifer Lawrence, tells the story of brilliant con man Irving Rosenfeld (Bale), who along with his equally cunning and seductive British partner Sydney Prosser (Adams) is forced to work for a wild FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Cooper). DiMaso pushes them into a world of Jersey power brokers and mafia that’s as dangerous as it is enchanting. Jeremy Renner is Carmine Polito, the passionate, volatile, New Jersey political operator caught between the con-artists and Feds. Irving’s unpredictable wife Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence) could be the one to pull the thread that brings the entire world crashing down.

Q: What made you want to come on board this project?

Bale: Well I speak for myself, first of all, I’m always interested in what David is making. I always know that it’s going be something that’s really fascinating, it’s going to be something that hopefully will be very memorable for many years to come. He’s always got an interesting take on it. His approach in working with each and every actor is a very different and dynamic one. And then when I just first saw the pictures of the real Mel Weinberg…he was not what I expected at all. And I just saw such incredible possibilities of what we can achieve together and then learn with all of this incredible cast.

Q: I’m intrigued by exaggerated realism of your films, Mr. Russell, and that operatic quality. And here are five lead actors and four of them have done this before and they’ve reinvented their performances radically from the previous films they’ve been in and this is just a fascinating aspect of it and I’d love to hear what the actors felt about doing a film that has this pushed reality that takes it to another plane. 

Bale: The only thing I would say is I’m not a fan of opera whatsoever, but you will get occasional moments when you’re having some sort of tragedy in your life where you look at opera and you go, “Oh my God, as long as it’s not in English because then it disappoints you ridiculously.” But when you can imagine possibly what they’re saying you’re like, “Oh my God, absolutely. I’m in the same state of mind where deep emotions can be wielded very quickly.” Whereas usually that would seem like melodrama, but you get at certain times in your life where you say, “No, I understand it now.” And then you’ll lose that again. But then you get certain points where you’ll say, “I absolutely get what that opera is about now.” Operatic nature, which I usually would have laughed at. But just wielding these deep emotions at certain times of your life seems to make absolute sense, completely.

Q: What did you enjoy most about your character? They’re very colorful and shiny…it’s just different in every single way and I just want to know what made it fun to play these different roles?

Bale: I think, speaking for myself, absolutely what you said is all true, you know. They were really colorful and shiny and very, very fun to play. But we were shooting this film for…how long were we shooting for? 42 days. So, you’ve gotta find much more than that to really be getting yourself up at the hours that we get up in the morning and still be fascinated…it’s got to go  beyond the colorful and the shininess and everything and that’s…Kind of about you put on a mask and you reveal your true self. Everyone is forming in a certain way and then it’s about, at some point, stripping away that mask and seeing what’s really beneath them and that happens in some ways to each and every one of the characters within movie in their attempt to reinvent themselves and they need to move on and find something else in their lives. And so that ultimately becomes what is fascinating because I never liked to actually ever define what exactly it is that I love about the character or what I really love about the film. But I do that intentionally because then you get a sense that you’re still discovering the character, you’re still discovering the piece as you keep going. And I feel like, I can’t speak for David, but I feel that energy from him as well because I change so much and it’s really enjoyable to do that, to change so much on the actual day. To adapt, to know your character so well on the day that you can have no worries in doing that. And that’s what really keeps you entertained. So all of the colorfulness and the shininess is absolutely wonderful, but it is ultimately an armor that people have against who their true selves are and David very much interested in what the person’s trueself is and what they’re heart is and what they’re soul is about and their emotion is about feeling.

Q: Christian, I’d love for you to comment on acting with Robert DeNiro because it seems like Irv might have been a fan of De Niro’s films back in that era like “Mean Streets” and “Taxi Drivers.” Can you just talk about shaping that character of Irv and acting with De Niro in that scene?

Bale: It was absolutely delightful to work with Bob and he’s such an iconic actor. But very quickly he’s one of the guys. He’s very, ridiculously, easy to work with and just superb in every manner. For Irv in those scenes, he’s very much out of his depth. This is something that’s become way too serious, that he’s usually used to being absolutely in control, but this is something he wants nothing to do with, but he’s forced into the situation so there’s a sort of blind terror that he has being at the table with this man.

Q: Can you talk about Jennifer Lawrence’s“Live and Let Die” song and dance sequence?

Bale: I loved that scene, but one of the things I liked best about it is going through that and then they pan over and you see the little five year old sitting there watching. And, you know, what is this kids life going to be?

Q: I want to know if the lure and excitement of acting for you guys is the fact that you get to reinvent yourself for each role?

Bale: For me, definitely it’s studying people…it’s nice. Everybody, at night time, they dream and tend to go a little insane and that’s acceptable, you know, because we’re dreaming and stuff. But a little bit, to me, it’s sort of dreaming in a sort of waking state…you get to study people and go a little insane and be obsessive about something and it’s expected. The more that you are the better it is and I find that very addictive.

Q: Can you speak about creating the world of this era and it’s obviously an over the top era in many ways and what elements did you decide to highlight? Was there anything from the era that, for the actors, you went back and sort of watched or looked at to revisit it?

Bale: I think it’s only over the top to us now looking back at the fashions and the era because it was such a wonderful and exuberant era. It was like Halloween for a decade. And the colors were garish and the style was just phenomenal for us to look back on. But the people themselves…we’re no different now.

Q: Can you talk about the scene where ”Delilah” by Tom Jones is used?

Bale: When Jeremy and me were singing to “Delilah” and doing a little dance around the place you listen to the lyrics of that song? That’s a sick song. It sounds so uplifting, but you hear the lyrics and go…Tom Jones was sick.

Q: I’m wondering are there any particular actors or actresses from the golden age of cinema that you imagine in these roles? And which films do you imagine double featuring with “American Hustle”? What would pair well?

Bale: I would say that the thing that got Irv through his bad times was just imagining a relationship with Shirley Bassey. That was the thing. When I spoke with Mel Weinberg he just, he’s in love with Shirley Bassey. So whenever there were bad times I would imagine dancing with Shirley Bassey.

Q: Can you talk about Irv’s friendship with Carmine Polito (Played by Jeremy Renner) and how Carmine was the only true friend Irv ever encountered?

Bale: Yeah and witnessing his altruism changed his life forever. He just was in love with the guy and was killing himself with the fact he was conning him the whole time despite the fact this was the truest male relationship he’d ever had in his life.