Christian Bale gets a ton of credit. And deservedly so. But I think we’ve reached a place of insanity and I want to even the playing field for a second. There’s no denying Christian Bale’s acting prowess, but it seems as of late people are more interested in his extreme fluctuations in weight.
ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh soooo impressive!!! NO! Let me hit you with two hard facts:
- It’s not impressive for actors to gain or lose weight for a role
- If you still think it is impressive for actors to gain or lose weight for a role than you also have to admit than Rob McElhenny from Always Sunny In Philadelphia is more impressive than Christian Bale
Uh oh, this looks like a trap. Want to tap out now? TOO LATE. Let’s break it down. First, it is just science that anybody with enough time and a regimented eating and workout routine can alter their body (for better or worse). This is only made easier for Bale when you factor in the fact that he has unlimited resources and professional help. He can have a cook and dietician plan his eating regiment and a personal trainer take him through a rigorous workout routine. All he has to do is show up. And here’s the kicker: it’s his fricken job. If this is all you had to do in your daily schedule you could also be in any shape you dreamed of. But no, he’s simply showing up to his job and getting heralded as a dedicated actor. Regular people don’t have his resources. Regular people don’t have his time. Regular people don’t get celebrated for just showing up to work. This isn’t impressive.
But maybe you’re not convinced yet. I frankly don’t see how that’s possible but whatever. Must be nice to be that naive. Any who, if you’re still on that train it probably means you’re some type of acting purist and then boy do I have bad news for you. If you still think it is impressive for actors to lose or gain weight for a role than you also have to admit than Rob McElhenny is more impressive than Christian Bale.
When Christain Bale gets super jacked, or malnutrioned, or very fat, he’s doing it for a specific role. Aka for a specific price. There is a big check waiting for him if he pulls it off. Not to mention the future checks that are coming based on this performance. You ever play that game with your friends where it’s like “how much money would it take for you to do (blank)?” Well that’s not much different than this. Just the blank is gaining or losing weight and the money is real.
That’s not what Rob McElhenny did on It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia. This is what he looked like when the show started.
And then, out of nowhere, just for goofs, he went and got crazy fat.
This is 100 percent real. No one asked him to do this. No one was paying him to do this. He just thought it would be funny. He noticed that in every long running show the characters always get better looking throughout the series and he wanted to see a character that got uglier and in worse shape as the series progressed. This happened solely because he thought it was personally funny. Maybe thought it would make his buddies laugh. But that’s it. Ruined his body for a goof. I can’t even fathom that level of dedication to a bit. It’s admirable. Comedy junkies should take notes.
But guess what? He wasn’t done there because right before this past season he went and just casually did this:
I haven’t run the number here but his fat to ripped transformation seems more dramatic than Bale’s to me. And guess what? This wasn’t so he could start looking handsome again. Nope. This was to double down on the bit. Just getting totally freakin’ jacked to be funny. Could you even imagine working your ass off in the gym just to make people laugh? All the sweating, all the burning, and all the soreness all for the sake of comedy. It’s absolutely incredible.
Take the money away from Bale and let’s see if he can look like Jacked Mac.
