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HWI 411
🕑 Added 2024-07-09 17:28:47 +0000 UTCHollywood What If Chapter 411
"Christian, are you really serious?"
Benjamin Davis looked at his client's face with complicated thoughts. He wanted to shake his head but his position as an agent stopped him. After all, the situation was good for them.
"Benjamin, you know how important this opportunity is. I can't let it go. I let it slip once and I regret it so much."
"But look at your body!"
Benjamin understood that this big opportunity could change their lives but he was not a heartless agent unlike others. He cared for his clients. Money was important, he didn't want to be a slave to it. He wanted money to have a better and easier life, not to be a slave to it.
"Benjamin... You know how devoted I am."
"Yeah, I know it very much. That's why I'm worried about you. Look at you right now! You're thin as fuck. You look like a matchstick!"
Christian Bale just smiled... He couldn't deny what his agent said. He was indeed skinny.
For his role in The Machinist, Christian Bale dedicated half a year to losing weight. His diet was water, an apple, and one cup of coffee per day... That was a very hard thing to do.
This showed what kind of actor Christian Bale was. It was also one of the reasons why he was highly respected, his dedication was real to his art.
From one 180 pounds(81 kilograms), he lost more than 62 pounds(28 kilograms.)
And now, Christian Bale looked skinny as fuck. He weighed just 99 pounds(45 kilograms).
With a height of over 6 feet, 99 pounds was not the optimal weight for him. He looked like a walking post.
"This Batman. A famous comic superhero! He is buff, thick, and strong. God knows how much rigorous training you have to do just for the role! It's very unhealthy if you try to lose weight and then gain weight in just a year. It could affect your health badly."
Warner Brothers expected the actor to be at least 6 feet tall and 190 to 220 pounds(86-100 kilograms) for the role of Batman.
For that, Christian had to start another hellish diet.
"Benjamin... You remembered what happened a few years ago, right?"
"..."
Benjamin sighed.
In 1999, Christian Bale was just a young British actor without any idea how Hollywood works. Benjamin became his agent at that time.
Christian Bale secured a role in American Psycho as Patrick Bateman. He put importance on the role and studied it, despite his strong disgust for the character Patrick Bateman. Christian Bale publicly said in an interview that he didn't like Patrick Bateman. After all, Patrick Bateman was a psychopath serial killer.
At that time, while in the process of working on American Psycho, Benjamin received a message that Kazir Grey personally invited Christian Bale to audition for the role of Wesley Gibson for the movie Wanted.
Kazir was already famous at that time and his filmography was successful. None of his movies flopped, making him one of the highest-paid directors in Hollywood.
Benjamin was actually interested in working with Kazir. He heard that Wanted would be an important part of the CCU... God knows how much influence it brought to the history of cinema.
Wanted became the 3rd movie to surpass the $1 billion box office worldwide. It was known to be the start of the never-ending success of the CCU franchise. That's how powerful Wanted was... And Christian Bale passed on that opportunity.
Christian Bale had the opportunity to work with Kazir Grey. He even received the 2/3 of the script. Unfortunately, his schedule was too tight at that time. He knew that he had to pass the chance. He didn't attend the audition, he didn't have the time to.
He thought Wanted would only become an action movie with an above-average box office. His knowledge regarding CCU was so little since he was from Wales.
He had no idea that the movie he passed on would be a massive success. He didn't know at all.
Obviously, he regretted it. In his opinion, Wesley Gibson's character was better than Patrick Bateman's. A young orphan who was seeking his true identity, becoming a part of the secret society of killers.
And now that, Christian received another chance, he didn't want to let it go. He didn't want to regret it again.
Besides, just like last time, the one who invited them to audition was also Director Grey. It showed that Director Grey saw something in Christian's acting.
"Benjamin, I want to be Batman. Even if I'm from Britain, I know Batman. That's how influential Batman is. The whole world knows Batman."
It was not an understatement. Batman was just that popular.
"... Sigh, I'll contact a dietitian and nutritionist. I have no idea what's the difference between the two but it's better to hire both just to make sure your transformation will be healthy."
"Thanks, Benjamin."
"Don't thank me. I also want to close the deal. We are talking about Warner Brothers, Kazir Grey, and Batman here. The combination is too strong to disregard."
Both of them chuckled.
"The audition will happen two months from now so we have time to prepare. You can relax for a while. Once we signed the deal, that's the time to take your training seriously."
"I understand."
"Let me remind you that you're not the only actor they invited. Don't be overconfident. Based on what I heard, they also invited some famous actors such as Ethan Hawke, Heath Ledger, Cillian Murphy, Jake Gyllenhaal, Collin Farrell, Joaquin Phoenix and even fucking 007 Peirce Brosnan!"
"Of course, Batman is not a simple project. It's an iconic character, I bet a lot of actors are eager to get the mantle of Batman."
Christian nodded. It is within expectations. He knew that his chances of getting the role were slim against these actors but it was better than not attending the audition. At least this time he had a chance to prove himself.
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[Author's Note: All of the actors I listed indeed auditioned for the role of Batman. Yeah, only one chapter today. I'm having trouble with how to continue the plot so I changed the POV in this chapter.]
