Although it was just as controversial as the Bret Easton Ellis novel it was based on, Mary Harron’s American Psycho has gone on to become a cult classic. Christian Bale was warned against taking the lead role of Patrick Bateman, with many people telling him it would kill his career, but it ended up becoming one of his most popular and memorable roles.
The exact meaning of the film is unclear; even Ellis himself hasn’t made up his mind about the truth about Bateman. Making such an ambiguous movie isn’t easy, so there are plenty of interesting stories from behind the scenes.
Leonardo DiCaprio Was The Top Choice To Play Patrick Bateman
When a film adaptation of American Psycho was first in development, the producers’ top choice for the role of Patrick Bateman was Leonardo DiCaprio. There are several reasons cited for why it didn't work out with DiCaprio, including his not being Harron's first choice for the role.
Next, the part was offered to Billy Crudup, Jonny Lee Miller, Edward Norton, and Keanu Reeves. Ewan McGregor was also offered the part, but declined after Christian Bale urged him to. Of course, Bale ended up with the role.
Christian Bale Spoke In An American Accent For The Entire Shoot
Throughout the entire shoot of American Psycho, Christian Bale spoke in Patrick Bateman’s American accent. The crew was shocked when he returned to his native Welsh accent at the wrap party, as they’d assumed he really was American.
This isn’t the only way that Bale committed fully to the role; he also did Patrick’s insane morning routine every single day during production.
The Whooshing Business Card Sound Effect Was Actually A Sword
The iconic business cards scene in American Psycho is a pitch-perfect satire of the corporate culture tackled by the movie as a whole. The whooshing sound effect that plays when the cards are shown to people was created by slowing down the sound of a sword being removed from its sheath.
Patrick’s Confession Was Filmed In 14 Takes, Fueled By Coffee
For Patrick’s panicked confession to his lawyer over the phone, director Mary Harron kept asking Christian Bale to do more and more takes because they kept getting better on each try. Bale ended up doing 14 takes before nailing it, fueled by a large amount of cappuccinos.
Mary Harron And Christian Bale Watched Adult Films Before Shooting The Threesome Scene
When director Mary Harron was working on the blocking for the threesome scene with Patrick and the two prostitutes, she watched a bunch of adult movies with Christian Bale.
In the director’s commentary, Harron said that during these viewings, Bale drew stick figures doing all the sexual positions he thought would work best for the scene.
Two Improvised Scenes Ended Up In The Movie
Christian Bale ad-libbed a number of moments and scenes throughout the filming of American Psycho, and two of these improvisations ended up in the final cut.
These are: Patrick crossing his arms during the jump-rope scene, and Patrick doing a moonwalk to hide his ax before killing Paul Allen. Bret Easton Ellis, author of the source material, actually objected to the moonwalking (one of the few things in the movie that he wasn’t happy with).
Jared Leto Was On The Shortlist To Play Patrick Bateman
Jared Leto was on the shortlist for the role of Patrick Bateman before being cast as Paul Allen. Of course, Christian Bale was the one who ended up playing Bateman.
Everybody in Bale’s circle told him that starring in American Psycho would be ruin his career, but that only made him want to star in the movie even more.
It Was Tough To Get Designer Labels To Sign Off On Patrick Bateman Wearing Their Clothes
It’s usually easy to get a designer label to agree to a movie character wearing their clothes, because it often means good publicity. But it’s not good publicity to have Patrick Bateman in your clothes, so it was tough for the producers of American Psycho to get labels to sign off on Bateman wearing their items. Cerruti would allow Bateman to wear their clothes, but not when he was killing people.
Rolex would allow every character to wear their watches except Bateman, so the book’s iconic “Don’t touch the Rolex” line had to be changed to “Don’t touch the watch.” Calvin Klein originally allowed Bateman to wear their underwear, but pulled out at the last minute and Perry Ellis replaced them. Comme des Garçons wouldn’t allow their overnight bag to be used to carry a dead body, so a Jean Paul Gaultier bag was used in its place.
Christian Bale Based His Performance As Patrick Bateman On The “Intense Friendliness” Of Tom Cruise
When Christian Bale was preparing to play Patrick Bateman and searching for inspiration, he stumbled upon a Tom Cruise interview with David Letterman. Bale found Cruise’s “intense friendliness” fascinating.
He could see a huge smile on Cruise’s face, but the smile didn’t carry into his eyes. So, he decided to base his performance as Bateman on Cruise.
Oliver Stone And David Cronenberg Were Attached To Direct At Different Stages
When Bret Easton Ellis’ American Psycho was initially optioned for a movie in 1991, Ellis was tapped to write the script for director Stuart Gordon, who wanted to shoot it in black-and-white. When that fell through (because Gordon’s version would’ve been rated X), David Cronenberg was hired with Brad Pitt lined up to play Bateman. Cronenberg’s script reportedly ended with a musical number on top of the World Trade Center.
Before Mary Harron was hired, Oliver Stone was attached to direct Leonardo DiCaprio in the role of Bateman, and Martin Scorsese and Danny Boyle were also considered.